Rise
by Nobody's Love
Summary: Post TP. Ganondorf returns once again to Hyrule. But before resuming his quest for absolute power, he has a new primary objective in his mind: to destroy the Chosen Hero. Warnings and Author's Note inside. Rated for future chapters. My 1st fic, COMPLETE!
1. The Dark Man Rises

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to The Legend of Zelda franshise. All characters, names, and places belongs to Nintendo, not me.

A/N: This is my very first attempt as a fanfiction writer. After years of reading, searching for stories and commenting on them, I felt inspired and quite confident to write my own story. And for that, I chose this fandom. I've been a Zelda franchise freak for quite a time and I hope that I'm doing justice with this piece of work.

Another quick note: _English is not my native language._ As you advance through the story (or even when you're reading this note), you may notice some errors and flaws on grammar, spelling and/or punctuations. It's just me, my word processor and a translating dictionary. Please bear with me. I hope that despite my tiny language limitations you can understand it just fine.

Last but not least: Don't forget to review! Hope you enjoy it reading it as I enjoyed (and keep enjoying) writing it! :)

Warnings: This story may contain some explict violence, gore, abuse, and torture in future chapters. I suggest discretion for sensible readers.

* * *

**A Legend of Zelda fanfiction**

**Rise**

_**Chapter 1: The Dark Man Rises **_

In the distant horizon, the yellow sun rose from behind the green and brown mountains that surrounded both Lake Hylia and, high over it, the Gerudo Mesa. At dawn, the sun tainted the sky in a mix of blue and orange. At the same time, the rays of light illuminated the small hills scattered throughout the vast sandy territory, spreading its warmth to an already hot land. Flocks of Guays appeared from their dens and circled the desert in different locations, resuming their everyday survival instinct.

A tall man observed the nature routine from the highest spot of the almost millenarian building. In addition to the rebuilt camp in the lower levers, he could see the whole desert from there; the hills, the dunes, the dry up trees, the creatures… even the watch posts and fences that guarded and protected the entrance to the complex. It wasn't hard to rebuilt and occupy it once again; the place was almost intact when he arrived there, it just needed some essentials and it would be usable once more. And the complex was in the far end of a forbidden and almost dead corner of the world, he was sure no one would notice the place had been reoccupied.

No one. Not Princess Zelda, not even the Hero.

_The Hero._

The man closed his eyes at the thought of the phrase. The mere reminder of it made a legion of memories appear in his mind. And they were all unwelcome ones. They were memories of occupation, of glory… of Power. But also memories of defeat, of imprisonment… They were memories of a destiny he still refused to accept as his' each time he was reborn and each time he rose from the abyss. He would defy the gods once again and write his own destiny as his own god.

The manipulation of that silly Twili in the past worked wonderfully; he could use the magic to rise from the Sages' prison, and recharged him with new found power. The Mirror of Twilight was destroyed, but he had no need of it now. The magic remained deep within him, as if the source had found a suitable home inside his soul.

He opened his eyes and glance the encrusted mark on his left hand; it was glowing, but not with the golden light it used to. A black and purple nebula now filled the hollow mark that used to store the essence of his beliefs since the beginning of his crusade, the essence of the Goddess of Power.

He closed his marked fist and the black nebula extended like roots all over it, floating and covering in a sphere of dark mist. This new power, this new beginning had no connection to the goddesses. They could not dictate his future now.

A moving glint in the horizon took his attention. He relaxed his fit and the nebula return to its containment place. Still far away from his point, small pack of Bullbos was approaching to the entrance of the complex. There were three Bullbos, all lined up side by side. They were skillfully ridden by Bulblins, two on each beast… except the one in the middle. The middle Bullbo was also ridden by one Bulblin, but the one gripping behind him was not another Bulblin, but a human.

The man called as _Ganondorf_ smiled for the first time in the dawning morning. So, the Hylian he was waiting for had finally arrived, just in time, just at the time he told him to come. This one would sooner or later become his new subordinate, his new puppet. _Just like Zant._ He was definitely less weak and had no power he could manipulate to his liking.

He had dark feelings inside, Ganondorf knew it. But this weak man's power resided not in what he could do, but in what he _knew_, and how those things he knew could be used in his plans.

His plans were slightly different to other occasions. To obtain the power of a nation, he needed to eliminate its support, its ruler. The Princess Zelda would definitely be the target. But before spreading his disease, he must destroy - contain the cure before it has any possibility of aiding. And as the blessed soul that Princess Zelda was, surely her savior would be another goddesses' blessed being. This time he knew who the cure was: the Hero. This time, the Hero was Ganondorf's first objective.

Of course, with the slight help of a pathetic, soon-to-be traitor.

Taking a last look to the morning sky, he turned from the one of the balconies from the Mirror Chamber and headed to his throne room. He must be prepared when his guest arrive.

* * *

A/N: So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Missing something? Feel free to review and comment on this chapter. Constructive criticism, flames... They will be greatly appreciated and considered. In addition that the keep me motivated. :)


	2. Prophetic Dream

Disclaimer: Everything Zelda related belongs to Nintendo. Not me.

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 2: Prophetic Dream**_

As he dismounted the grotesque form of transportation, Purlo almost thanked to the gods he didn't believe in that the ride was over. The desert was huge and very hot, even in the early hours of the day. And to make the trip worst, the harsh galloping of that disgusting animal – a Bullbo, they called it – made his body feel uncomfortably sore. And those short but menacing looking Bulblins escorting him all the way… Definitely, this was not his most pleasant trip.

Purlo almost fell as his foot got caught by a rope of the Bullbo's sit. "Arrg… stupid thing…" he growled as he untangled his foot. His comment caused the big beast to turn his head and snorted, menacing eyes fixed momentarily on the human. Maybe it wasn't so stupid after all.

But Purlo was finally there. Now this must be some serious thing to Ganondorf made an "appointment" in this forbidden and almost inaccessible place. He had been obedient; he did just as Ganondorf wanted him to do, exactly as it was spoken to him in that dream some days ago…

_Purlo shifted position once again in an attempt to find some sleep. After he closed his business for the day he had felt uneasy, as if being watched by someone. He attributed those thoughts to his long day running the Star Game, so he was sure that would go away with his usual good night sleep. But it seemed that the weird feeling accompanied him into his cozy bed._

_Eyes closed, he concentrated in the black universe that his mind provided him. It was just that; black with some tiny stars sprinkled all thought it… his stars._

_His mind fixed in that little star that suddenly began to move faster, and flied to the middle of the black. Then all stars began to wiggle, faster by the second, and moved to the center where the first star moved. There they compacted themselves into a bigger star. The shine emitted by them began to weaken and to change its color from a light blue to indigo. The light ball continued changing its color almost instantly; from indigo to purple, then to indigo, then orange, and back to purple._

_The routine continued for a few seconds, until he heard a whisper, almost a hush. It turned louder; it was a voice, but it spoke in such a whispering way that it was impossible to understand it. Now the color shifting of the light was so fast that it was getting him dizzy. In addition, the whispering grew louder and faster rhythmically with the shifting. Purlo felt himself squeezing his eyes to relieve his upcoming headache and made the illusion disappear, but to no avail._

"_I can see your soul." Purlo heard a voice through the windmill of whispers, clear but silent at the same time, as if it was just to be heard by him. "Your intentions, your plays… just as dark as this void."_

_Purlo's gut jumped. Someone knew of his business. The whole Star Game thing. But how? He thought he kept them discreet and unnoticed by every one. _

"_I can help you, in exchange of your help". His thoughts were interrupted by the voice. He could figured out it was a man's voice. "Power and wealth are in your mind. I can give them both to you."_

_What? How he knew? He was getting scared. This ghost, or spirit, or whatever it was, could read him biggest desires like a book. He must be indeed, powerful._

"_Do you want it all?" the voice asked. That was a question to think of, it could take its time if the background voices weren't getting so annoying. They were still there, filling his ears and feeding his headache. The image of money and power passing by like sweet air. _

"_Yes!" Purlo answered, feeling fistfuls of shiny rupies in his hands, and wondering why they felt so real and close to him so suddenly…_

_An image was then reflected in the ball of light, blurry at first, but it cleared rapidly, revealing the view of the Lake Hylia at night. Specifically, the cannon run by the clowns at the lake. Then as sudden as it appeared, the image disappeared in the swirl of dark colors emanating from the sphere. The noises raised in pitch, volume and intensity. It was turning in to a deafening shriek and if it didn't stop soon, his head would explode._

"_Please, stop…" Purlo moaned. "I'll help you, but stop this."_

_The light sphere turned white again, and now the view of dunes and sand appeared in the sphere, a big coliseum-like building far away. It must be the Gerudo Mesa._

"_The desert?" Purlo asked more to himself that to the invisible force in his mind. _

"_Meet me there." The voice suddenly said, louder than before. A second later the light increased to its maximum intensity. Purlo screamed, gripping his head with his own hands as a sharp knife pierced his brain and stab it again and again. Just then, he could open his eyes…_

Purlo walked with some work through the soft sand, staring almost blankly forward and half following his escorting pack of Bulblins. Pack of Guays flied over them, shrieking as they passed through the camp of makeshift tents and entering the massive coliseum. He noted how well guarded and protected the fortress was, and began to wonder if coming there was a good decision. He didn't know who was he going to meet or what was his purpose. Maybe he was some kind of sorcerer or magician since he was able to penetrate into his dreams.

But, in the other hand, he mentioned the magic word: _money_. The voice told him he could give them what he value most. Purlo was no saint either when it came to underground business, so trying making business with another mirror image of him will do no harm.

And so, three days later after the dream, he woke up before dawn and silently walked to Fyer's Cannon Rides in Lake Hylia. There he paid for the oasis flight to the desert. After the "flight", he was surprised that the Bulblins and their rides were waiting for him. This was serious, he knew then this was no joke. He must meet this mysterious dream guy.

* * *

A/N: Be Kind. Review. Thank You :)


	3. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own any Zelda related stuff, they are property of Nintendo.

* * *

**_Rise_**

**_Chapter 3: __The Meeting_**

The interior was creepy, Purlo had never seen anything like that before. It was like some kind of tomb. Sand, stone sculptures and hallways were everywhere. The torches lit the place just partly. Luckily the Bulblins were escorting him, otherwise he would had been lost.

They stopped in front of a large door, and it slid up open, revealing a large room. The Bulblins stepped aside and make the sign to Purlo to enter. Chewing his lower lip and almost trembling in fear, he entered the room. As advanced the air began to feel heavy and the room although spacious, felt small around him. He saw a man seated in front of a wooden table, with two heavy armored knights guarding him, one on each side. Both of them had large double axes which were gripped reverently in front of them with both hands.

Purlo almost jumped out of his shoes when the door behind him slid down to be closed. Now there was no turning back. He must keep waking forward. He stood in front of the empty cushion chair obviously intended for him, but didn't dare to sit. Still it was of bad manners to sit down before being gave the order to. Instead, he decided to show his availability by starting a conversation. He was good on that.

"Ahem…" Purlo cleared his throat, and forced a smile through his trembling lips. "Hello, my name is Purlo and I run the successful amusement stop called Star Game in the heart of Hyrule Castle, but it seemed you already know it." He stopped, waiting for a reaction from the black-dressed man. But the man stood immobilized, an elbow on the armchair and a hand holding his chin.

He made the attempt a second time, bringing the main things up now. "So, um… how can this humble person help you with?"

The man finally spoke. "Take a sit." Finally. He pulled the chair and sat down, chuckling as how plushy the chair felt. "Make yourself comfortable."

Purlo remained smiling. "Hehe, nice chair…" He said, acquiring more confidence as he sunk partly in the chair. When Purlo felt comfortable enough, the man leaned forward, placing his arms and entwined fists on the table. He shivered as the man's long face leaned closer. He felt menaced and he didn't know why. "Eh… So…" Purlo spoke again, expecting some action, anything.

"My name is Ganondorf," the man finally introduced himself. "From the living things inhabiting this world, I visited you in your dreams, and I chose you for one simple thing."

Ganondorf then took his hand under the table and took out a big wallet full of rupies and put it in the center of the table. The wallet made a noise because as it was put there. "Take it."

Purlo hesitated as first, but a second later he handed the wallet and opened it. He introduced his hand inside the wallet and his eyes glint as he took out a hand full of silver rupies. There were so much rupies that they slipped out of his hands. His jaw dropped open in amazement. After all, the magician was telling the truth.

"This is just a small part of the reward I've stored for you," The man said almost caring. "You will own the rest, I give you my word. I just need one thing you know."

Purlo looked at him, still savoring the texture of the many rupies in his hand. "Eh… Yeah, sure. Umm, what do you want to know?"

Ganondorf leaned forward a little more, determination filled his face. His voice grew somber. "I'm looking for a man. Since the disturbs that took place on Hyrule some years ago, his whereabouts remained hidden for some people's safety." He paused and fixed his eyes on Purlo. "You know him."

Purlo frowned. "And… who is this man you are looking for?"

"His name is Link."

Link… Where he heard that name before?

Oh yes, Link, the man those green clothes. Purlo heard that he helped Princess Zelda to avoid the fall of Hyrule Kingdom. He also had some encounters with Link before. Since he almost ruined his business in Hyrule Market, he had spotted him some times back in the market, but never came back to his amusement point, fortunately for him. But anything out of the ordinary.

"Ah yes, Link. I know him. Well, I almost know him. He and I are not as close as you might think… In fact, I know he made some trips from time to time to some points of Hyrule. But really I don't care where he goes or what he does… as long as he stays away from uncovering my… ways of income." Purlo said in a burst of babbling words.

"Just tell me how I can cross paths with him." Ganondorf said.

"Eh… pardon my interruption, Mr. Ganondorf," Purlo said. Does this Link have some connections with this weird man? "But, why would you like to meet him? I mean, he looks like no harm to people so…"

Purlo closed his mouth as Ganondorf raised his hand, and a flow of black energy emanated from it. The energy floated like a cloudy ball on his open hand, the energy strips running down his arm. Purlo felt paralyzed in his spot, cursing himself for intruding the dark man's intensions with the Ordonian man.

"My intensions are not of your concern, human. I have the treasure you want, and you have the information I need. It is a fair tread, don't you think?" Ganondorf's voice was menacing, but just the sight of the man's developing magic was enough to make up his mind. "So I will ask you one more time, you pitiful human, _where_ I can found Link?"

He just wanted to know something about a nobody, and if he did, he would take his money and get out of there, fast, something he wanted with all his heart to do right then. What wrong could this do to any of them? Anyway, Link somehow knew Purlo's dirty tricks. Maybe with out of the way, he could still run his business more at ease. And the best of all, he would not move a finger to do so. This man would do it for him.

"Ok…" Purlo said, gulping a breath of courage that he didn't has. "From time to time he and some villagers part to deliver the harvest to some places." He took another breath. "When they reach the Field, they part ways. Sometimes he comes and dropped the harvest at the market's bar. I don't know where the other group part to… maybe to the village to the east. Most of the time he comes alone…" Purlo stopped as there was no more air left to invest on words. He smiled, feeling his job there was done. Now he could get his money and get out of that suffocating place.

Ganondorf leaned back to his chair, silent. One of the armored guards move to Purlo's and grabbed him by his arm to stand him up from the chair. Purlo tensed at the strong grip, now he was confused.

"Guard, escort the man to his room." Ganondorf ordered. The guard pulled Purlo to the door, but Purlo tried to resist. He was beginning to panic.

"Wait! Where are you taking me?! I told you all I know…!!" Purlo screamed as the mighty iron guard continued pulling him to the opening door. "Where is my money? You told me…"

"You will be able to leave this place when I prove that the information you just provided is true." Ganondorf said from his chair. "Consequently, you will receive the rest of the bounty, as I promised."

Purlo's struggle ceased a little after he heard Ganondorf's words. "You better keep your promise, Mr. Ganondorf. I told you what you wanted, no? And what is this room you're talking about…?"

The annoying noises made by Purlo were muffled to Ganondorf's ears as the door slid shut again. This man resulted to be more weak and arrogant that he could expect. But the job of taking out information was easier that he thought. Just a little manifestation of his power, and he just spilled it out.

This part was done. Now is time to work.

* * *

A/N: As usual, if you like it or have any comment, click that little purple button below and leave your review.

And I promise, Link will make his appearance soon...


	4. Ambush

Disclaimer: Anything Zelda-related stuff mentioned in this story is property of Nintendo.

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 4: Ambush  
**_

Under the shadows created by a group of high trees, Link drew his bow and aimed. He positioned the makeshift arrow, tensed the string and held it while fixing his eyes to the target almost fifteen meters away. He held his breath, took a last look toward him, secured the target, and shot…

_-Prackssss-_

The wooden target broke in pieces when the flying arrow hit the bullseye. For a moment there was silence, and later the sound of Link's first air intake after he used the bow… followed by the cheers and clapping hands of his young spectators behind him.

"Great shot!" praised the brown haired boy, Talo.

"Amazing!" said the blond boy, Colin. "Right into the center."

Link turned to the children, their laughs like music to his ears. He couldn't help but smile.

"One more, Link," said Beth, the only girl in the group. "One more shot, before you leave."

"Yeah, one more shot and we'll let you go," Malo said, his voice full of excitement.

Link hesitated for a moment.

"Eh… I don't think so guys. I'll be leaving in short and I must get the cart and Epona ready for the trip."

"Come on, Link. One more shot and you'll leave us be happy for the next week… Please!!" Malo begged him while the other children joined the boy's begs.

Link glanced at the cart full of harvest goods intended to be delivered to Telma's Bar. He would be parting to Hyrule Market as soon as Rusl appear with the second cart at his house. Since he retuned to the village – about two years ago – he and Rusl began to deliver a part of the village's cultivated products to the Market and Kakariko Village; the first one just as a favor called by Telma to stock the bar's warehouse, the second one as a Major Bo's initiative in appreciation for Renado and Kakariko's inhabitants' help during the Twilight situation and Ganondorf's occupation. They usually leave together and part ways once they reach the field; one to the North and the other to the east.

This time, he was going to Hyrule Market.

Link glanced the trail that head to the village. No. No one was coming yet. Maybe he could give the kids one more shot.

He sighed, and smiled. "Ok."

"Yay!" The children choired enthusiastically.

Link stood in front of another wooden target stuck on a tree in his house yard and moved away from it. Then he took an arrow from the quiver on his back, charged the bow, and drew it. Once again he fixed his eyes to the red target. A simple target to the world, but to him, the head of a horrid Bokoblin.

"Link!" Someone shouted.

"What…?" Link turned his head to the direction of the sound. In a second of distraction, he accidentally released the string and sent the arrow flying. The arrow trailed off and when off the planed direction. Link watched as the arrow actually hit a corner of the target breaking the spot, but the rest remained intact. If it had actually been a Bokoblin's head, he would have surely blown its ear off. Epona let escape a neigh as if laughing at his master's miss.

"Well, didn't we want a last shot? There we have it," Malo said sarcastically.

"Hahaha! Practicing your targeting once more, Link," Rusl said with a smile in his face. "Or just another show for the children?"

"Father, you made Link miss the shot!" Colin claimed his father.

"Oh don't worry, Colin. What's a single miss in a million's bulls-eyes Link had scored?" Rusl said to his son as he patted his shoulder.

While Rusl continued his talking with Colin, Link glanced at the company behind him. He came accompanied by his wife Uli, Major Bo and his daughter, Ilia. Uli was sitting on the cart seat in the front. Ilia and Bo were following the cart by its side.

"So Link, ready for another trip?" Bo said.

"Almost. Just let me prepare Epona and I'll be ready." Link said as he went to check Epona.

Bo turned to his daughter. "Oh Ilia, are you sure you will be able to take care of Uli's baby girl while they are out?"

"Haha, of course she will!" Uli laughed from the cart. "She's such a reliable baby, Bo. Ilia will handle it just fine."

"Yes, I'm sure I can do it. But I would not mind having a hand from you, no Father? Ilia asked to Bo.

"Of course, dear. It'll bring me such cute memories from the time I used to change your diapers…" Bo said like if he was reliving those times.

"Father, please…" Ilia said softly to her father, slightly bushed but still smiling.

"Well, now we are ready," said Rusl as he mounted to the cart and took his spot as the rider beside his wife. "Are you ready, Link?"

Link mounted Epona and righted himself on the sit until comfortable. "Yes, I am ready."

"Well Rusl, we expect you back no more than a week." Major Bo remembered the timeline to Rusl. "As usual, say hello to Renado and Barnes."

"I will," Rusl assured him. "Ilia, take good care of our kids. You know their schedules, don't you?"

"I do, Rusl. Don't worry." Ilia replied, then she glanced at Link. "Link?"

Link turned his head back to Ilia. Locking their eyes in the distance, they both smiled.

"You know what I always tell you before you go," Ilia said. "Take care of yourself, and of Epona, too"

Link smiled back at her. "You know I will, Ilia. I always come home safely."

Rusl's ride turned and head toward Ordon Village exit. Link's ride followed him.

"Good bye, Link!!" The children waved their hands good bye as the carts grew smaller in the distance. "Bring us a souvenir!"

And so, the rides full of harvest goods parted to Hyrule Field.

* * *

The midday sunlight began to hide between the gray clouds above, announcing rain for later in the day. Other than that, the field was perfectly calm, the breeze blew gently, the bugs flew and crawled from tree to tree, and the grass was brilliant green. It was a good day so far.

Link watched the environment as he guided Epona through the dirt trail. The pace was slow, but Link wanted to take his time easy and make the trip a relaxing one. Almost half an hour ago, Rusl's cart and his parted ways. Rusl and Uli were heading East, to Kakariko Village. After delivering the goods in Telma's Bar, he would then head to Kakariko via the East Field, meet Rusl and Uli there, and finally returning together to Ordon Village a few days later. That was the way they always did it.

He was alone, but it didn't bother him. It let him to be alone with his thoughts, but mostly, with his memories. Since his crusade ended, he always had his bow and quiver with him wherever he went outside Ordon Village, more for habit that for security matters. While the sacred sword returned to its resting place, he kept the bow for himself; not the Goron Elders or the Patriarch seemed to bother with that; maybe he earned that privilege. He also brought his shield in each trip, it was secured within the cart's cargo.

Link looked at the pond, the cliffs, the flowers… He took a look at the gray sky, trying to remember where those black portals were located some time ago.

As he advanced, a loud thunder cracked through the sky and landed behind a mountain far away to the West. Epona neighed nervously. Link tried to calm him down. But the horse looked uneasy, something was bothering her. Link halted the ride and dismounted the horse, and checked her to see if she was hurt. But Epona kept moving.

"Steady girl, take it easy," Link soothed her as he massaged Epona's horsehair. "Is something bothering you?"

Another thunder appeared in the distance, and more rain clouds gathered throughout the sky, covering the field in shadows. Link looked up and frowned, surprised at the speed in which the clouds were moving over him. A strong wind blew over the field, messing up Link's hair. He looked at his surroundings. It seemed like a storm was coming ahead instead of a simple rain. No time for relaxing now. He had to hurry.

Link mounted Epona and resumed his trip, now faster that before. He urged Epona to speed up then he spotted the path will lead him to Hyrule Castle. He halted abruptly when a portal appeared on his way. He watched perplex as the portal glowed before him. Then from a purple color, the portal changed its color to blue. Link remembered where he'd seen those portals before. Perhaps too well…

_After his confrontation with the corrupted Zelda form, Link thought the battle was over or would be easily concluded. The light side finally prevailed. Or so he thought. Link watched as Ganondorf's weakened form transformed into an enormous wild boar, full of energy and darker than before. The beast ran around, destroying everything in his way, until Ganon disappeared in from his view…_

…_and a second later reappearing through a glowing opening in the middle of the place. It looked like some kind of portal… _

At first, Link almost freaked out when he remembered the portal. He just expected the nightmarish creature to come out of the portal. But instead of Ganon, a flock of flying Helmarocs came out of the dimensional opening, shrieking loudly. As on cue, Link turned around with his horse and the cart and ran at maximum speed. Link didn't know where he was heading while escaping from the flock, the only thing he knew was that he had to run and had no time to think where they came from.

Link looked back and counted about four of five Helmarocs behind him, and three more when we looked up. Fixing back his eyes to the trail, he saw another one flying by his side almost at the same speed as Epona. The Helmaroc threw a peck toward him, but Link managed to duck it. The flying monster flew away from him, gaining distance and time to make another attack. It shrieked again and flew over Link once more, but this time he was waiting the Helmaroc with a charged bow, and shot.

This time, the Helmaroc's shriek was one of pain as the arrow hit its long neck and make him lose speed. As the fallen creature was left behind, another flying Helmaroc descended to attack the rider, but was also greeted by another arrow through its body. Shooting moving targets while fighting with Epona's own galloping movements was a challenge to Link as the technique grew cold in him. The only thing that kept him from forgetting his fighting skills were the times the children asked him to show off how much a good fighter he was.

He continued shooting arrow at the creatures until the number of Helmarocs was reduced to two or three. The remaining Helmarocs sped down and Epona's constant speed helped Link to left them behind. He was finally escaping the ambush.

* * *

In a cliff not far away from the battle, a Bulblin watched the speeding pursuit with a telescope. The flock was making its job of keeping the rider's attention from any other kind of movements beyond the field. Putting the telescope aside, the Bulblin charged a wooden blowpipe with a dart soaked with the viscous substance that was told to act like a strong sedative. He watched the rider approached to his watch point in an attempt to evade the Helmarocs. Fixing the approaching target with his eyes, the Bulblin took the charged blowpipe to his mouth, took a deep intake of air, and shot it.

* * *

Still running from the creatures, Link turned his head again and saw that the Helmarocs were left behind. It seemed like they took their ambush as a failed attempt and were backing up. Link let escape a sigh of relief…

Something struck Link in his shoulder. He groaned, and the sudden burst of pain paralyzed him. Suddenly, his head felt heavy, his hands grew numb by the second, making him loosen the grip of Epona's reins. His body could not keep the balance on his horse any longer, and he fell from the horse, landing on his stomach on the tall grass.

Link shut his eyes closed while battling a wave of drowsiness in his head. He opened his eyes and lifted his head, but his gaze was blurry, he could barely see his surroundings. He took his right hand to his left shoulder, to the source of both pain and numbness, and felt a dart incrusted into his skin. Maybe it was poisoned because nothing else could explain the numb feeling of his body.

Gripping his injured shoulder, he began to stand up, but the dizziness was sickening and he only managed to rise up to his knees. Even that movement made him lose balance, and he put a hand on the dirt to avoid falling down to the ground again. He looked up through his darkening vision and spotted a sea of purple and blue in front of him, like an orb. He blinked and saw movement coming out from the blue spot, small persons where coming out from it. Link felt his heart dismay as he realized that the orb was another portal, and the movements must be some creatures coming out from it. Maybe Bokoblins, or Bulblins... He couldn't know.

_No…_ Link thought, feeling the strength leaving every limb of his body. He heard distant noises, like neighing sounds. _Epona._ She must be somewhere near. He wanted her to run, to advise the others – anyone – of what just happened to him. His mind became extremely foggy, he could not think anymore. Finally the weariness took him completely, and Link's world turned black as the ground rose up to meet his face.

* * *

A/N: I hope to have done a better work with this chapter in comparison with the previous ones. Leave your review and tell me what you think. Thank you :)


	5. Captive

Disclaimer: Anything Zelda related belongs to Nintendo, not me. Not even in my dreams.

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Charter 5: Captive**_

As in other occasions, Renado and the Goron that worked in Kakariko Village, welcomed Rusl and Uli and received the harvest goods. As the goods were stored in the village warehouse, the visitors spent some talkative time at the sanctuary with the shaman and his daughter, Luda. Later in the afternoon, they had a succulent dinner made with the food the Ordonians brought earlier. As the sun set, the couple settled in one of the rooms at Ende Inn. The inn was not completely rebuilt yet, but judging by the looks of it and the speed and dedication from the workers there, the inn would be open very soon in its full capacity.

Before getting inside the inn, the couple decided to take a walk through the village. They walked together, holding each other's hand, as they watched the town's nightlife. The night was approaching and the few people that lived there were returning to their houses, and a small number of Gorons were outside, taking care of their businesses.

As they approached the oasis, Renado came out of the sanctuary. He smiled to the couple. "Ah, I see you are enjoying the night." He said to them.

"Yes, it's a very pleasant night. It's not as hot as in other days so we decided to plenty enjoy it before going back to our room and rest." Rusl replied as he and Uli exchanged a smile.

The three people looked at the Southwest entrance when they heard a sound from that direction. Slow, galloping sounds approached. Maybe someone was coming.

"A visitor… at this hour of the night?" said Renado to no one in particular. "Strange."

Yes, it was strange enough to turn aside the Gorons' attention and make them approach to the village main entrance to see the nightly visitor. The galloping sounds approached, and the silhouette of a horse appeared in the distance.

"Look dear, it's Epona," Uli said to Rusl when she recognized the horse in the distance. "Link is coming."

"…Yeah…" Rusl replied, confused. It took about two days for Link to deliver the cargo, but he was returning the same day? And at night? It was not just the way Link made things. In addition to that, he always enter the village through the North gate, not the South gate. As Renado said, this was strange.

The horse was approaching, but her way to walk was unbalanced, uncharacteristically of a fully healthy horse as Epona was. Epona continued walking toward the small group of humans and Gorons. But Link wasn't anywhere at sight.

What came next made Rusl's gut jump inside him. Someone tied up a rope to Epona's tail, forcing her to drag something through the ground that Rusl couldn't figure out at first. That was surely what made Epona's pace so unstable. Rusl hurried to Epona, and almost dismayed when he saw that a bow and a shield were the things attached to the tail by a rope. He ordered Epona to stop and detangled the bow from the tail. He then crouched to pick up the bow. It was broken in three parts, damaged beyond repaired. He didn't bother to pick up the shield, for it was easily recognizable as a Hylian shield that Link owned. The bow also belonged to Link. This could mean one thing, one unacceptable thing…

_Something happened to Link…_

Uli covered her mouth with her hands at the realization that something was more than wrong that night. "Dear…" Uli said, her voice cracking. "This can't be…"

Rusl stared blankly to the broken bow in his hands, not daring to look at his wife.

* * *

When the bow was visible in Rusl's hand, the Goron immediately turned around and rolled back to the Death Mountain peak. The Patriarch and the Elders must know what he just saw at the village. They must know that Link - the Hero chosen by the gods, and the wielder of their once guarded treasure, the Hero's Bow - was missing, and surely in danger.

* * *

Link awoke with a start when something cold and wet was dumped on his face. Bewildered, he sat up in the cold stone floor and coughed, his body felt heavy when he moved, and his vision blurred. He raised a hand tentatively to his left shoulder, and felt the poisoned dart that knocked him down earlier still stuck deep into it. With the same hand he wiped away the excess of liquid that filled his eyes, and blinked to clear his vision.

Even when the blur in his eyes faded away, he could barely see his surroundings. He was in a dark room made out of stone walls and lit only with a pair of torches placed high above a heavy-looking wooden and steel door.

His body shivered when he began to stand up, his trembling limbs making the simple task slower. Link raised his eyes, and stopped his movements abruptly when a pair of big, old boots invaded his sight. He held his breath as he continued to raise his head to reveal the figured in front of him. His shivers intensified when his eyes reached the guardian's head; a chubby-cheeked, dull-green face and a big nose in which a pair of small and red eyes seemed to get lost into; a red collar covering his neck and part of his fat chest, and a cap with long, bloody horns high on his head. The creature had a bucket in one hand in which water drops dribbled from it.

The grotesque creature stood there, fire-red eyes gazing the young man on the floor. Link's eyes widened and his jaw almost dropped from his skull, as he realized he had met this… thing before. In fact, he killed it, a long time ago. But it was there, imposing, standing, unharmed.

_King Bulblin._

Link almost lost his balance as he tried to step away from the monster. Instinctively he reached for his sword and shield behind his back, but didn't have then, not even his bow. _Someone must have taken it away._ He continued his backward crawl, not able to take his eyes away from the green creature, until he collided with the far wall. Gripping his body against it, he stood up, still clung to the wall. The movements made his injured shoulder throb, and Link held his shoulder trying to diminish the pain. A small groan of pain escaped his lips, almost like a hiss.

The King of Bulblins took a step closer to Link, then another step. As it approached, Link searched frantically the place with his eyes from his corner, trying to spot anything that could help him defend himself. But the fright was taking control of it, dizziness and heaviness taking over him, the same feelings he had the rare times he got sick.

The creature was less that to meters away from Link when he stopped. He dropped the bucket to the ground, and took his hand behind his back. He took it out back again, but was now holding a long scimitar in his hand.

Shivers invaded Link's body once more before what looked like his imminent death. He was defenseless and not feeling good enough to give King Bulblin a fight. Frozen in place, he clung against the wall even more, waiting the Big Bulblin to swing the weapon against him.

King Bulblin stared at the youth's apparent resignation. He looked scared, but also fearless to accept anything that might come over him, even death. King Bulblin smiled, showing his crooked and yellow teeth, and began to raise the scimitar.

To Link's surprise, the scimitar was not swung against it, but thrown lazily to his direction, landing near his feet. He looked at the King, totally confused, his eyes begging for a reason for such action.

"Fight…" the King said suddenly, his voice so guttural and macabre that caused Link to flinch. Link gazed the scimitar once more, guessing the monster's intentions. The monster was not the kind that made fights like honored knights do. On the contrary; the traitorous and the dirtiest the battle, the better for him. He wanted to fight him, but also wanted to play with his prey before fully starting his own game. He knew his kind that much.

But also, Link saw this as an opportunity to take an advantage and escape from him. Thought he felt weary and his left arm felt a little dumb, he was decided. Not looking away from King Bulblin, he crouched and took the scimitar from the floor. As he stood up, the scimitar felt oddly heavy in his hand, and his grip was shaky. He gripped the weapon with both hands to keep it steady in front of him, stood away from the wall a little, and adopted a fighting stance. He was ready.

The King watched Link as he held the scimitar with somewhat shaky hands. His eyes glowed with determination. He would willingly fight him. But King Bulblin was just going to play; sweet, bloody game.

"Attack!!"

As on cue, Link ran toward the King and performed a vertical slice as he approached. The King dodged the hit easily to the side. Link then turned around and made a horizontal slice, opening a gash on King Bulblin's back. The King growled as the hit met his back. But the wound didn't seem to affect the monster. The Big Bulblin turned around and back-handed Link, making him lose the grip of the scimitar and sending him flying across the room and landing on his chest.

Link groaned at the sharp pain he felt in his chest and head. He raised a hand to his head and saw that it came out wet with blood. The hit from the Big Bulblin cut Link right in his temple. He felt the wound pounding at the same rhythm as his frantic heart was beating.

King Bulblin was approaching to him. Still on the floor, he searched for the scimitar – or anything that could help him defend himself, but the only thing he could find was the wooden bucket the King had when he entered the room. It was close to him, it was reachable.

_Hope this will do…_

He extended his hand and grabbed the bucket, and slowly got to his feet, his back to the monster. He stumbled as the dizziness intensified and the world began to spin, but he could feel King Bulblin slowly approaching. Then Link felt a big hand grabbing his shoulder and turning him around to face the monster, and at the same time he swung the bucket as strong as his weariness let him, smashing it on King Bulblin's head.

Link fell to his knees and watched as the King collapsed to the floor groaning in pain and holding his head with one hand. The Big Bulblin was losing his own game.

This was the opportunity to run away. Still feeling dizzy, Link got to his feet once more and headed to the door which, luckily, was half open, and ran out of the room. That monster was surely strong, but not as smart as to close the door to avoid its prey's escape.

Link stumbled against the wall as he exited the room, and ran through the humid corridor. His legs felt so weak and light that he supported himself against the wall to avoid falling. Contrary to the past room, the corridor was brightly lit by torches that hung high on the walls. Despite of that, Link didn't know were he was going or where the corridor led to. He just hoped it would lead anywhere far from monsters and fights.

He continued the trail with sluggish feet, holding his injured shoulder with a hand to diminish the discomfort created by the dart. His headache was getting worst by the minute and his dizziness wasn't decreasing. At times, shadows invaded his sight, forcing him to shut his eyes tightly and shook his head to clear his view. He could feel the blood of his head wound run down his face and neck.

Some meters ahead, the corridor turned into a curve in which brighter light reflected on the walls. Link let out a sigh of relieve; it seemed that King Bulblin was neutralized and was not following him. In fact, no one seemed to be searching for him, which was weird. But he was near the exit of that place. Soon he would be out of there and then he'll manage to find a ride back home. He could smell the fresh air of the surface world already.

He walked a few more steps until a shadow invaded the light reflected on the walls, and as in slow motion, a tall, dark figure appeared and turn to face the young man, making him stop his pace. The noise of its metal armor parts colliding with each other echoed though the corridor. A cape hung over its shoulders, partly hiding the hand that gripped a long sword.

A new shiver ran through Link's system dismay took his hope away. He was caught defenseless again. He also knew this one, and also fought his in the past; this was no Bulblin, this was a Dark Nut, countless times stronger than any earthy creature, and countless times smarter, second only to Ganondorf himself.

And with no sign, the Knight ran heavily but fast toward him, and Link fell backwards as he tried to back off the Knight. With one hand, the Knight grabbed Link through his shirt collar and lifted in the air until he met Link face to face, his feet almost a meter apart from the floor. Link tried to loosen the tight grip by hitting it with his fists, but the thick gauntlet made his attempt to no avail.

Link met the helmet of his enemy. Although its helmet had fissures for the Dark Nut to see, Link saw nothing though them but black, as if it was made out for hollow shadows. For the first time since he remembered, the simple sight of it scared him.

"You're horrible…" The personal thought escaped his mind and passed inexplicably through Link's lips as nothing more than a whisper, but loud enough for the Knight to hear it. He could almost sense him frowning at the unexpected phrase.

The Knight slammed its helmeted head to Link's face. Link slumped, head falling backwards, his senses spinning even faster, making him nauseous. He felt new blood run down his face as the wound in his head tear opened even more. The Knight heaved the youth a bit more and, as if holding a rag doll, threw him against the wall.

Link crumbled on the floor, his head pounding from the blow, nausea rolling through him with every throb. He swallowed, gagged on the blood, retched and gasped. The Dark Nut approached him again, and Link felt the metal foot connect against his gut, the force of it turning him into his back. He winced and groaned in pain, and blood rose to his mouth. The Knight must have broken him some ribs since the pain made it hard to breathe. He knew he would pass out soon.

He struggled to keep his eyes open, and saw that the Dark Nut was still there, sword in hand. It was strange; the Dark Nut had his sword in his hand all the time, but didn't use it against him. At this time, he would have been the perfect target. But he didn't even swing his weapon. Not the Dark Nut, not King Bulblin. Both could have eliminated him if they wanted to. But they didn't.

They didn't want to kill him yet. But why?

The Knight kneeled at the youth's side, and grabbed him by his collar once more and lifting his head from the floor, and Link met its empty gaze once more. It was getting difficult to think clear with his head throbbing as hard as it was now. He prayed that any of his disorganized thoughts would make him say something inadequate that might ignite the Dark Nut's fury again.

"Not yet, boy…" The Dark Nut's humanoid voice said unexpectedly.

Link frowned through tired eyes.

"You will see the Master before your death…" The Dark Nut paused, then finished, putting emphasis in the word. "Hero…"

Link didn't had time to process those words as a hard punch hit his face. The hit tore a gash in Link's lower lip, and send blood spraying through his mouth. A wave of darkness splashed over him, and his eyes lids felt as heavy as anvils. He didn't resist the pull of that heavy wave, as he knew his body needed it so much. When the darkness fades away, so will the pain, and so will this completely insane nightmare.

At least he hoped so.

* * *

A/N: As I previously said, I hope to have done a better work in this chapter. I personally think the story is going right where I want it to. I'm very exited with this story and I've got a lot of ideas for this little baby; I just need the time and inspiration to organize them and write them down.

R&R and thanx for reading! :)


	6. Unexpected Encounter

Disclaimer: Nintendo owns everything: characters, places, names, etc. I own nothing. Got it?

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 6: Unexpected Encounter**_

Drowning. He was drowning. He didn't remember how he got close to a water source, but the liquid that suddenly gulped into his lungs pulled him away from his sleep.

He tried to clear his throat, trying desperately to breathe. All he could manage to drag into was more water. He dared to open his eyes, but everything was as black as if keeping his eyes closed. His desperation escalated when he felt that his body wasn't responding when he tried to move; he couldn't move his hands or his head, no matter how hard he struggled to just move them a little.

He struggled against the invisible force holding him underwater, as more water entered his system through his mouth and nose and ran down his throat, threatening to choke him. All he could hear was the sound of water, everywhere, all around him.

Someone pulled his head by the hair so hard that he thought his neck would break. With that pull, his head finally came out of the water. He coughed violently, taking short bursts of air between as he spewed the mouthfuls of water.

He slowly gained control of his breathing while his head remained held by his hair by the invisible force. Moving only his eyes, and after the excess water left his sight, he inspected the place. It was not the same place where he woke up earlier in, but definitively in the same complex, with the difference that some weapons like axes, maces, and whips were hanging in the walls.

His hair was pulled once more and with that same strength Link was thrown to the floor. The fall made the pain of his wounds to ignite once more. His head wound and the lip cut were pounding painfully, and the discomfort of the incrusted dart in his shoulder wasn't minimizing either.

He immediately tried to pull himself to his feet, but lost his balance as he noted his hands were bound tightly behind his back. He rolled to his side and gave another quick look to the place, and noticed some wooden devices placed in different points of the stone room, but couldn't recognize any of them or knew their purposes.

Maybe he _didn't_ want to know for what they were used for.

A figure appeared before Link; it was a Dark Nut, the same one that neutralized him earlier with those hard blows. Link almost winced at the memory of those hits. He was holding a chain in one hand.

"Up, boy," the Dark Nut said as he pulled the chain to him, and Link felt he was pulled up by his neck. The movement caught Link unaware, and instead of being pulled up, he was dragged forward to the armored knight. He felt his neck compress by the pull of the chain, which was attached to a leather collar bound around his neck. Growling, the Dark Nut pulled the chain again, harder, as Link was forced to stand up, but his still dozed legs only let him coming up on his knees. The air was cut from Link as his throat resented in pain and by the forceful pull and pressure against it. Link retched.

Link was still held captive by this new rebellion, and for now, there was no an immediate way out of it. In order to avoid receiving more blows and pain, he _had_ to submit. And now he needed to move. His punisher commanded him to move. He must obey.

On his knees, Link moved slowly, begging to his feet to wake up. With shaking feet, he managed to stand up without being pulled up by the collar. He felt another pull, short and not so hard this time, pulling him forward. Link staggered on his feet as the pull caught him unprepared once more, but the chain has held high and steady, keeping him from falling and making his throat to ache once more.

"Move," the Dark Nut said as he began to walk out of the room, half-pulling, half-dragging Link from behind him with the chain and collar, like a person dragging his pet dog with its strap, who refuses to obey his master.

0000000000000

Link's forced walk continued for a few minutes through half lit corridors and sandy floors, following the Dark Nut as he maintained the grip of the chain that drag him behind the Knight. At times the Dark Nut pulled it forward to keep the pace of his pray constant, making his stagger to maintain his balance and avoid him falling down.

The floor was cold and full of sand, and it was then that Link realized that his feet were bare. He was still using the same clothes since he left Ordon Village; the cream pants and green top. The only difference with his top was the dark spot of blood that surrounded the incrusted dart in his left shoulder. His belt, bow, and quiver were missing. Even his gauntlets were removed from his hands. He was really lucky that he left his hat at home, otherwise it would have been "missing" too.

Link kept his head low, drops of water dripped from his hair and face, gazing occasionally his surroundings as he half-walked through the place. The walls this time were sandy brown, so different from the walls of the subterranean prison. Sections on the walls were sculptured with forms and symbols, some of them resembled the sacred signs of the goddesses, such as the Triforce. The same mark he has on his left hand. The constant reminder of who he is.

But deep in his mind, this place was so familiar to him. He had been there before, but he wasn't sure of that. He had been in so many places and corners of Hyrule, that maybe this was just a look-alike place to another, somewhere.

Link almost stomped behind the Dark Nut as he stopped in front of a big door. He waited a moment until the door slid open, and the Dark Nut resumed his walk. Link was staring high at the big and ornate door when the chain attached to his neck was pulled, waking him from his stupor and urging him to keep walking and to follow the armored Knight.

With a hollow thud the door opened, and both the hunter and the prey proceed to the room.

The new room was well lit by several torches aligned on the floor, patched by several mounts of sand on the floor. Behind the torches, and occupying the whole far wall, stood an enormous stone statue of a woman, sitting with her legs crossed, and her six arms extended to each side. The light emitted by the torches below gave the ghostly impression that the arms were moving gracefully in the air. To anyone else the sculpture would have been impressive. But not for Link, for the apparent piece of art reminded him of where he was, what that place was.

_Arbiter's Ground._

Link let escape a groan when a blow behind Link's knees made him fall on his knees. He fixed his eyes to the floor, not daring to look around the room anymore. The place reminded him of his almost supernatural battles against the ghosts and undead soldiers that inhabited the forgotten prison.

Knelt in the spot, Link felt a presence that just seconds ago didn't felt in addition to the Darknut. The air became foggy and strangely heavy, making it hard to breathe and feel clean air through his lungs. It was all around him and he felt like his body was being compressed down to the floor.

Still, he had felt that before…

"Kneel before your master…" came the sudden voice of the Dark Nut behind him.

_Master? What master?_

Link looked forward and sighted the dark silhouette of a person sitting in what appeared to be a throne made of stone. It was right in front of the woman's statue and between the set of torches, and he questioned himself why he didn't notice it before.

The figure was a man, his head low, his hands placed on the arms the throne, gripping them tightly. Then slowly, he stood up, and began to walk toward Link. The approached Link with slow, cautious pace, the darkness of the room camouflaged him like a dark veil over him.

Link attempted to move away of the man approaching him, but the heaviness and discomfort surrounding him were stopping him from doing it. He never parted his eyes from him as he continued to walk closer to him.

The man walked around Link, as if he was inspecting him from above. He moved to Link's right, then to his left, all in complete silence, silence that made Link's discomfort to grow.

The mysterious man walked around Link's kneeled form again, but this time he stopped in front of Link. He looked up again to the man's face, but the darkness still masked his features.

"Do you know where you are?" The dark man asked apparently to him, an incredible calmness filling his deep voice.

Link frowned, not understanding the question at all.

"Do you know where you are, young man?" The voice asked him again, this time expecting an answer. Understanding this time, Link saw no objection in answering.

"Yes..." answered Link, his voice hoarse and low, even trembling. He was beginning to feel scared.

"No," the dark man replied with the same calmness as before. "I said, do you know where you are?"

Now Link was confused. Where does this questionnaire was getting to? He knew where he was, and he told him. Unless, he wanted Link to say what was this place was used for, what was its function before even knowing it exists. He still didn't understand the purpose of the question, but still, he told him the only answer he knew.

Link gulped, trying to get control of his trembling voice and body, and tasting a bit of his blood in his mouth. The leather strap was so tight in his neck that the gulp passed painfully down his throat.

"A prison…" Link said. Even with his effort, he couldn't content the trembling in his voice.

Silence. Then, the man chuckled, and started laughing. The sound of his laugh echoed throughout the room.

Then as suddenly as the man began to laugh, he shut up. Then spoke again.

"No, young man." The dark man said. "You certainty know this place. But you don't know yet where you really are."

The man turned around, giving his back to Link.

"Ages ago, before this sacred place was converted into a prison, it was used to worship the great Goddess of Sand by a mighty tribe, the Gerudo." The man said as he extended his arms in front of the massive Goddess statue before him. "It was called then the Spirit Temple."

"Every one hundred years, a male was born in this all-women tribe. One of those men was rejected from the tribe. The Gerudo never trusted men; they considered them inferior to their race of warriors. Even their leader at the time, Nabooru, denied his potential." The man said.

Link listened to the story. He remained knelt and barely moved, only his chest moved because of his somewhat labored breath. He was scared that any other movement would make the Darknut to take actions against him.

The man continued his story, still facing the Goddess of Sand. "The Gerudo hated the possibility that they, in a future, would worship a man not only as a leader, but as a god. It was then that I understood my purpose in life. It was my destiny written by the gods, that's why no one dared to opposed me when I took the absolute power over this vast kingdom."

He stopped, turned around and talked again. "No one… except one person." He began to pace around the place as he spoke. "Thanks to him, I was deprived from the power, and was exiled to the nether realm of the Twilight. That… was ages ago."

A chilling goosebump ran through Link's body as he began to realize _who_ was in front of him.

"Now, ages later, I was reborn to take again what was mine. But, _that_ person also returned, the _Hero_ chosen by the gods. And with the sword of evil's bane and the gods by his side, attempted to vanish me once more."

The man's voice was now filled with quiet anger as he raised his voice. Then he walked toward Link again. He crouched in front of him and took Link's chin in this hand. His gloved hand gripped strongly as he angled his face upward to meet him face by face. And at the same time, the Darknut pulled the chain to hold Link's face in angle. He spoke slowly, almost gentle. "But he failed."

Link widened his eyes and his mouth drop opened at the impossible situation. Now he could see his face clearly. The face he swore he would never see again while he lived; the face he swore he vanished from the world for good. But he was there, in front of him, speaking to him. _Free._

_Ganondorf._

"Yes, boy. This time, not even the mightiest god could hold me in the void. Not even you, Hero." The Dark Lord said, and Link could feel his breath in his face. And once again, he heard the emphasis on the word _Hero_.

Ganondorf released his grip from Link and stood up quickly. He was about to turn around when he heard Link speak.

"Your destiny…" Link said keeping his head down, gathering his courage and any composure he could have left deep within him. Now it was his time to speak. "…written by the gods… to have the world under your power…" Link looked up toward Ganondorf, and smiled as he spoke, his voice almost menacing. "Maybe it is, too, the will of the gods for you… to fall again, heavier that before."

The Dark Lord stared at him in silence, until he connected his foot to Link's face. The hit made him fall backwards, and his head collided painfully with the stone floor. With the hit, his headache and dizziness returned. Once more his mouth cost him another blow, but this time he didn't regret it.

Link laid on the floor, his hands still bounded behind him, wincing as the pain returned to his body, when Ganondorf appeared above his sight. Ganondorf crouched beside him. "You'll learn to never underestimate me again." He said as he opened his hand and placed it on Link's chest. "Your suffering will feed me."

Link raised his head, but only managed to see the dark flood of energy coming out from Ganondorf's hand before being embraced by a suffocating pressure. The pain was unbearable and Link arched his back as he felt his soul was torn inside out his being. He screamed, but the sound was muted by the torment. His lungs were burning, screaming for the air that was being pulled out from them.

The flood of energy stopped abruptly, but it was late. The weight of oblivion was too heavy, and Link succumbed to it.

* * *

A/N: Here is another chapter of this fic. I have to say that this is not my favorite chappie, so I don't really expect you to like it either. Anyway, and as usual, leave your review and let me know what you think about it.

And for those who are following this fic -- College subjects are now taking most of my time, so from now it will take a little more time to post new chapters. Because of this, I ask for your patience and believe me, I will continue this fic until finished.

Don't forget to review, they are greatly appreciated. :)


	7. Pity

Disclaimer: Just in case someone of you don't know it, I don't own Legend of Zelda, Nintendo does.

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 7: Pity **_

At the dawn of the next day, Rusl stopped his horse near the wooden wreckage that used to be a cart. It was completely destroyed, but there was no trace of the food that was supposed to be transported in it, not even a single pumpkin. The wheels tracks stopped near the South Hyrule Castle entrance, and turned to the left. The tracks continued little bit further until they stopped near the entrance trail to Lanayru Province, right where he found the wreckage. Definitely, Link was ambushed and forced into flee somewhere off the expected delivery trail in an attempt to running away.

Rusl walked around the destroyed cart, frowning in utter disbelief. There was no doubt that Link would have fight if he felt any immediate threat. But to defeat Link in battle and abducting him, it had to be a well-planned ambush or the bandits where too skilled or too strong for him to handle alone.

Sounds startled Rusl from his thoughts. Could the same bandits be somewhere near, watching him? He unsheathed his sword and prepared for any upcoming attack. The sounds got clearer; they where coming in horses. Rusl would not hesitate and was determined to give them fight and asked them for some information later, the soft or the hard way. They would decide.

He relaxed when familiar figures emerged from the South Castle trail. They were three if them. Actually, the supposed bandits were his friends.

"Hey!" One of the riders shouted in the distance.

"Rusl!" Said the other rider. The small group approached to Rusl's spot and dismounted their horses.

"My friends," Rusl sigh in relief while embracing each of them in a warm salute. "So nice to see you all, but not at the best of scenarios."

"Unfortunately, it seems so," Auru, the eldest of the three, said to Rusl as he looked the wreckage. "Telma, as well as the three of us, were expecting Link to come to the bar. But when he failed to show up, we decided to investigate at first hour in the morning."

"And they took everything, both Link and the cargo," the younger man Shad said as he crouched beside the broken cart and touched the wooden remains.

"Yes. For the look of things, I believe this whole thing was planned." Rusl stated to the company. "Who did this was expecting him to pass through this same place."

"It seems so," Ashei replied. She was the group's only girl. "But I don't see any signs of where could the bandits headed after the ambush." Then Ashei looked at Rusl. "Do you have any idea who might have done this?"

That was a good question he hadn't considered, until now. "I don't know. I would like to but, I have no idea…"

A moment later, the sound of an apparent stampede jerked the group from their attention. Still fearing an ambush, the Hylian warriors place their hands on their sheathed swords and prepared to any upcoming attack. But the stampede was not one of monsters or goats, but of rolling Gorons. The Hylian group relaxed when they recognized them.

The Gorons pack stopped and made a semi circle in front of the Hylians. Once there they unrolled themselves and revealed their massive forms. One bigger Goron stepped forward among rest and stood before the Hylians.

"Patriarch Darbus," Rusl saluted the chief of Goron and paid reverence to him. The others behind him made the same.

"We were told by one of our kind that something happened to your friend; the Hero wielder of our treasure. Wherever he is now , he may be in danger" The Patriarch Darbus said to the smaller man. He then extended his enormous hand to Rusl. "We are here to help you find his whereabouts and bring him back to his kind."

Rusl looked at the Goron's hand. The Gorons tribe was a proud race, and Darbus sounded sincere, friendly and determined. Rusl extended his hand and shook it to Darbus'. If he was to search for Link, he would surely need everyone's help.

* * *

Purlo grabbed a roasted goat leg from the nearby plate and chewed a mouthful of meat. He gulped it down with a cup of wine, or maybe water; he couldn't distinguish from both with a mouth full of food, but he didn't care.

He relaxed in his chair in and of the long table. Ganondorf did as he promised; the rest of the treasure was delivered to his room in the complex. Without a word, his minions, entered his room and handed the chest to him. The chest was not as big as other chests he had seen before, but it was full of wallets – about nine or ten - and the wallets were full of rupies up to their holding capacities. Later that day, a Dark Nut escorted him to a dining room with an opulent feast.

The table was full of a variety of food; meat, honey, milk, pumpkins, even goat cheese. Purlo observed the amount of food on the table and question himself how and where Ganondorf was able to acquire such an exquisite harvest without being noticed…

He took another bite from the meat, and thought about how lucky he was. Now good wealth was at his hand and all he had to do was to spill his tongue a little; just to say something about one person…

_Link… _Purlo thought. The he raised and eyebrow as realization came to his mind. In the bounty was already delivered, it meant that Ganondorf was able to localize him. He could have also brought him somewhere in this complex. There was no other explanation. But, although it is not of his concern, Ganondorf's intentions for Link worried him a little. Did he know Link from before? Were they business friends? Enemies? But why would he worry? If Ganondorf, though menacing, treated him like an honorable guest, why would he not do the same thing with that man? He must not care about that. Anyway, his own relationship with Ganondorf was one of sole business and nothing personal.

Purlo stood up and retired to his room. He must prepare to his trip back to Hyrule Market. But before that, he must pay a visit to this Link guy to clarify things up and to assure himself a clean conscience.

* * *

Darkness. Link felt like he's been floating in that empty space since forever. He could barely remember what happened that forced him to pass out. The only thing that his memory retained at the moment was the face that, despite of time, he couldn't forget

Ganondorf.

Ganondorf has returned.

He couldn't understand how that could be. He remembered that final moment, the final strike that finished his presence and his menace. But if Ganondorf could escape the sages and the goddesses' prison, then what went wrong? He pierced the sword through his heart, the sacred sword that would vanished the dark sorcerer away. But Ganondorf was back, and he was the one behind his capture.

But, as well with King Bulblin and the Dark Nut, Ganondorf had the chance to dispose of him. But he didn't, either. They all had him at their moment in a golden tray; they couldn't caught him more defenseless as he was then. It seemed like Ganondorf, just like his minions, wanted to play too.

"_You'll learn to never underestimate me again..."_

Or worst…

_"Your suffering will feed me..."_

Link felt lost and alone. He was sure somebody had notice his absence, possibly Telma because he didn't make it to her bar. But even when everybody knew about his disappearance, they wouldn't know where Ganondorf had taken him. It wouldn't even pass through their minds to search for him in the forbidden place they were holding him.

All those thoughts made Link's head hurt even more. Those blows pounded hard inside his brain, along with the wound in his temple. He was awaken but kept his eyes closed, some nearby light source was reflecting through his eyelids and was feeding his headache. He tried to move, but a massive heaviness he felt in his body made every movement slow and painful. He felt his hands weren't bound anymore, and took one to his forehead wound. It stopped bleeding but still hurt like the first time. He took the other hand to the back of his head and felt a growing lump there. He didn't felt blood coming out from there.

Sighing, Link retired his hands from the wounds and let them fell at each side, feeling a pile of hay under his hands. He felt relieved that at least he was laying down on hay and not on the hard floor. He opened his eyes and was greeted by a stone wall corner. He was back in that dungeon room. Being there once again was not a good sign.

He he kept his eyes closed and felt he was dozing off. He felt so tired that he let himself go for now…

00000

A loud sound erupted from outside and the door was open abruptly, colliding with the wall. Link's ears resented when the waved vibrated inside his ears. He heard footsteps approaching. But he didn't even strive to open his eyes and see who was coming. He dozed off again.

0000000

Sensations returned to him when Link felt he was being pulled by his legs. He didn't resist or struggle since he wasn't sure if he was awake or he was having a dream. He partly opened his eyes and saw the blurry ceiling above him, moving. Someone was moving him by dragging him by his legs. He wanted to blink to clear the view, but closing them made his headache to dissipate somehow. So, he kept it that way and fell asleep once more.

0000000

_High in the blue sky, the clouds resembled cotton balls flying through the air, and the low grass was moved by the soft breeze. The goats grazed in different points of the ranch undisturbed by nothing, and Fado, the goat-herder, was feeding some goats by hand._

_Link was laid on his back on the grass at some far point of the ranch. He was comfortable there, the place was peaceful… The day was perfect._

_He closed his eyes and breathed fresh air and kept them closed for a second. When he opened them back, the blue sky disappeared and a black night stood above. Not a single star present there. Link stood up quickly, and saw that the barn was being consumed by fire._

"_Fado!" Link screamed. He thought that Fado was inside the barn along with the goats._

_Link ran to the barn, but halted when the fiery barn collapsed to the ground. He looked frantically around; he needed water to extinguish the fire, and some help from the village. Not wasting a minute, he ran to the village. To his horror, the whole place was on flames; the houses, the trees, the orchards... his beautiful village has turned into a living hell on fire._

"_Major Bo! Rusl!" He called out as he saw their houses burning and collapsing but no one answered. "Ilia! Where are you?!" Only the crackling sounds of the flames replied to him._

_He felt the heat in his skin and sweat was coming down through his face; the sudden impact from the scene before him was forcing Link to think faster that ever, to think what to do now. To think that somebody was caught inside and burned alive made Link to panic even more. With his heart pounding against his chest, he ran to the only place he hoped to be fire-safe: his house._

_Link then ran to his home, heavy smoke coming to his lungs with every panicked gasps. He followed the trail home, but stopped abruptly when the trail reveal an army of creatures; Bulblins, and armored Dynalfos coming from his house. And behind them, the menacing figure of Ganondorf._

_0000000_

Link screamed as his eyes flew open. He felt like suffocating and tried frantically to drag air to his lungs between coughs. Now fully awake, he found himself bare chest, hanging from the ceiling by his chained wrists; his feet dangling several centimeters off the floor; his weight strained by his chained wrists and shoulders.

Along with his awakening, new pain emerged from this new situation. His new position made his shoulder wound to tear open even more; blood and fluids leaked from it. His wrists began to hurt by the pressure exerted by his own weight. He felt cramps coursing through his legs and feet, like an army of ants biting his inner muscles. He tried to move, but felt that his feet were bound together, making his movements even more limited. He moved them again, and felt something pointy - like needles – sinking into his ankles every time he tried to move them.

He knew he was in trouble. His instincts shouted him to find a way out, to escape. But his weary body implored him to stay still, to find relieve without getting hurt again. He tried to pull himself up on the chains to ease the cramping of his shoulders muscles, but only succeeded in rasping his skin and to cause some blood to swell and spill over the metal restrains. His injured shoulder pain increased. He let himself go limp, and his body swung gently.

After concluding that any movement will lead him to aggravate, Link lifted his head and inspected his surroundings. He recognized the place quickly; he was back in the same half-lit room where that Dark Nut tried to drown him and later treated him like a pitiful dog. He could tell by the hanging weapons on the walls and the wooden devices.

_Oh no… _Link thought. Being back there was no good sign that his torment would ceased soon. Hanging there alone was a torment itself; his arms joints felt stretched out and the cramps from his feet began to course all over his body; hunger and dehydration made him feel weaker by the minute.

The door behind him open, and he tried to look back at the door, but his own arms obstructed his head movements.

"Who's there?" Link said, his voice trembling as they came out from his lips. "Who is that?" He insisted.

Steps approached to him, and Link expected any Ganondorf's minions to appear before his eyesight. To his surprise, instead of a monstrous face, he saw the face of a human.

"Hello. You must be Link, right?" The man in front of him said in a sympathetic way. "Ah, of course you are, since you are my very best costumer."

He recognized his voice, his face, his green hood, his business… his priorities. A big fog dissipated from Link's mind. Now he knew everything; the ambush, where to him, the exact time. He knew it. He was the one who told him. "You…" Link said emotionlessly.

"Yes. Purlo's the name, in case you… forgot it." Purlo said to the hanging man. He could understand why his voice almost trailed off. "Eh, I would have hoped to meet you in better circumstances..." He stopped to swallow the lump that was forming in his throat. "Look, I really want to…"

"How much…" Link broke in, wincing. He was obviously in pain.

"What?" Purlo said, puzzled.

Link heaved in a breath. "How much… did he pay… to you…" He managed to say, keeping his gaze directly to Purlo, and continued. "…for my head?"

Despite the weird feelings crashing and turning in his mind, Purlo didn't dissimulate a face of slight disgust for what he just said. But Link's words were like a slap directly to Purlo's face. His quest for wealth had become so evident to everyone. He didn't need to explain anything. His sole presence there explained all.

Purlo couldn't see him anymore. He turned around to leave that gloomy dungeon, but he wanted to tell him something, to return him that damned – but true - statement and put this young man back in place.

He turned back, and his now angry face met Link's face once more. He raised his finger and pointed to his face; he was about to back fire him with his mouth… but nothing came out from his lips. In fact, not even a single monosyllable was formed in his mind. Looking at Link's face made his thinking capacity to come out blank. He had some nasty wounds in his head. Blood and dirt smeared his face and were literally washed out by rolling beads of sweat.

Purlo made his attempt to look menacing, but Link didn't seem to be moved by his partly faked gesture. Despite his evident weariness, his boy was tensed, his head was high, and his eyes still fixed in Purlo's. For a moment, Purlo was the one who felt menaced by the bound man.

Purlo softened his face a little and put his finger back to his fist. As the aftermath of this encounter, he felt lost, rich and lost. A bad combination. But deeper than that, he felt sorry for Link. After all, he felt sorry to have drag Link to this deplorable place and in such condition because of his avarice. He felt pity.

He gave one more look to Ganondorf's prisoner and turned to left the room to never go back again. But Link's voice halted him when he reached the door. "Hey…" Link called. Purlo stood there without turning his head to see him while he spoke. "First me… then you… then… the rest of the world out there…" Link stopped to catch his breath; forcing himself to speak left his out of breath. "...with lies...and blood...that's how he does it…"

He listened to him. But nothing more. If he stood another second there, he would surely slam his head against the nearest stone wall. Without looking back, Purlo left him to whatever Ganondorf – or any of his ugly freaks – would like to do to him. He didn't care.

Or at least he pretended not to.

* * *

A/N: This chapter took me a long time to write. The developing turn in Purlo's personality was specially hard to write 'cause it would be an essential part of the story in the future. As in previous chapters, hope you like it and understand it just well.

Be kind. Review. Thank you.


	8. Cruelty, Guilt, and Consequences

Disclaimer: Every Zelda-related mentioned here is property of Nintendo, not mine.

**Warning**: Violence and related stuff ahead. You've been warned.

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 8: Cruelty, Guilt, and Consequences**_

Immediately after Purlo left, Link let out a sigh and let his body relax while still hanging from his wrists. He was hurt, no doubt about it, but he didn't wanted to show his weak form to anybody. Not even to Purlo. Purlo, in addition to be a player, was a traitor. How could he ever imagine that? How could Ganondorf get so close to Purlo and persuade him and not be noticed at all? Will he attack the castle again? Does the Princess know about him?

Too much questions in his mind, but none of their answers would help him get out of his actual situation. The right question to ask now would be what is going to happen to him. Link surely lost the track of time; he didn't know how much time he had spent in this forsaken prison. And he was still there, apparently abandoned in a suffocation dungeon to be eaten by the first maggots that enter through the door.

Some minutes passed, and the door opened again. As when Purlo entered before, he turned his head to see, but his position wouldn't let him. He heard steps again. Dread pierced his gut at expectative of the new visitor. His body tensed when the unmistakable figure of King Bulblin stepped before him.

Link did what he could to control his shivering and try not to panic more than he already was. He was alone again with that psychotic monster in a torture cell, and he just couldn't think what he would do to him.

Link barely registered the Bulblin's face when the creature slammed his fist against his face, hitting him near his right eye. Stunned, his head slumped to the side. He groaned in pain and his gaze blurred again. The monster stepped away from him, and came back holding a club in its hands, the trademark weapon of most the Bulblins. But the one the King Bulblin had in his hand was bigger than the last time he saw one of them; it almost doubled the size.

The monster lightly tapped the club against his newly bruised eye that was beginning to swell, and pressed it into his skin. He slowly slid the club down across his face, then his neck, until he reached the dark spot with the incrusted dart in his shoulder. The King circled the wound with the tip of the club, sending shivers through the young man's system. He stopped poking it, and began to press the club against the tender skin. Link bit back a scream as the pressing and the pain it produced was increasing in intensity.

The pressure wasn't released for what seemed an eternity to Link. It felt like the inflicting weapon was going to trespass the flesh at any moment. It hurt like hell, but didn't want to show them any sign of his weakening. If he didn't show it off to Purlo, neither to this disgusting creature. He held back the scream.

_Gods, it hurts… Don't scream. Don't you dare to scream…_

But he couldn't hold it back for long. He couldn't pretend what was already evident. The Bulblin pressed against the wound even more, and Link let out a sound groan, submitting to the dull pain. He hoped that the torment would stop when he groaned, but the pressure grew as well as the pain, and his groan increased into a painful scream. The wound began to leak blood and fluids that trickled down his torso.

Only then, the Bulblin released the pressure he made with the club. Link winced and gasped for air while the agony echoed through his shoulder and most of his chest. He shut his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind, to forget the discomfort caused by hanging from the ceiling. His head had fallen forward, his sweaty hair covered his features. The King chuckled almost hoarsely in front of him.

The King Bulblin took some steps back. Then he raised the club and hit Link on his exposed side. Link screamed as the hard wooden weapon connected to his torso, to his already targeted ribs. The monster raised the club again, and it him a second time. This time he hit his stomach. He screamed again, but was choked back as the same hit took his air out.

He felt another strike in his upper chest. He felt the puncturing pain expanding through the rest of his ribcage. Another strike, and another scream came out of his clogged throat. He coughed, retched, and blood rose up to his mouth. The next strike to his ribs made him spatter the blood out of this mouth. He was hit once more. He swallowed, gagged on the blood, retched and gasped. His muscles cramped, and he couldn't find the strength to tense and resist the devastating blows that were battering him. It was difficult to keep his thoughts, to remain centered when his body screamed in agony. His senses began to float away, yet he could hear his tormentor chuckling at his own situation. He held precariously to any remnant of his memory to avoid sinking deeper to his agony, but all his mind could summon was the sinister voice Ganondorf.

"_Your suffering will feed me…" _Those words still echoed in his foggy mind… He understood them now, the hard way.

0000000

Purlo remained seat on the cozy bed of his assigned room, and stared at the pair of Bokoblins as they retire the bounty to be loaded to his ride outside. He stared at it blankly, not with the lust and desire he did earlier that day. That whole bunch of shiny rupies was stained by the blood of the innocent long before he could even imagine. And without noticing, he became part of the plot. Now how could he enjoy his newly acquired money knowing all that? He would have thought about that before going to the desert, or maybe by not freaking out and not listening to that dream. He was late for that.

Sighing, he followed the Bokoblins to his ride. It was time to return to the civilization.

Walking through the semi-dark corridors of the complex, Purlo saw the thin passage that leads to the dungeon… where Link was held prisoner. Now out in the incandescent sun, he spotted a green, eagle grass in a secluded spot in the sand. He frowned at the weirdness to see such plant in the middle of a desert.

But he could get his gaze away from the hall, asking himself how Link was holding on in the nightmarish chambers. Purlo couldn't contain himself; he halted, turned around and headed to the dungeon. He needed to see Link once more.

At the end of the corridor, he stood in front of the chamber door. He tentatively touched it, and in creaked open. With more caution that before, he entered the room and found out it was strangely quiet. No one was there, except for Link's still form hanging from the ceiling, his back to him.

He approached him, full of curiosity. Now in front of him, he could see the inflicted damage. His head hung forward, his damp hair covered most of his face. A barbwire string tied up his bleeding ankles. His torso and limbs were mottled with bruises and abrasions, marked by dried and fresh drops and spatters of blood. A dark wound marked his right shoulder in which the dark veins were visible through the pale skin. He was still suspended, but slack on the chains; he wasn't even showing signs of life.

_They already killed him…? _Purlo thought. His mood sank deeper than before, and a big lump clogged his throat once again. He felt guilty for everything. _What have I done?_ He raised his hand to touch his face. "Link…?" He said, his voice no more that a whisper.

When his fingers merely touched his cheek, Link jerked abruptly, raised his head and wide opened his eyed. One of them was swelling and was only half open. He gasped for air and began to moan, wincing as his body awake from his slumber. He blinked a few times and fixed his eyes to the person in front of him.

"Oh…" Purlo almost smiled and cried at the same time as Link reacted to his touch. He was alive, but in very bad condition. He reached for his belt and took out the water bag he kept for the trip back to Hyrule Market.

Link's eyes opened. He saw Purlo again. Second to Ganondorf – and King Bulblin - he was the least man he wanted to see at that moment. He shut his eyes again as the pain closed in.

Purlo saw that Link's face was as expressionless as the first time they met. Obviously, his face wasn't pleasant to him any more. A hand gently held his chin and raised it up a little. He felt cool liquid in his lips.

"Here Link, drink." Purlo said softly to him.

It was water. He knew he needed the liquid. He was thirsty, and his mouth and throat were parched. And so he drank, the water felt sweet as it went down his throat. He opened his eyes again as the water was removed. He coughed a little, and saw Purlo again.

Purlo stood there, muted. He didn't know what to do or what to say. It was little he could do to help Link. He could help him to get out of there, but in addition that he was no warrior and a coward for those things, escaping the prison without being spotted was out of question. At that moment, he could only do one thing.

"I'm sorry…" was the only thing he managed to say in that uncomfortable environment. But he said it to him, directly to his eyes. Now, he doubt it Link would accept his apology; as if apologizing would ease his pain and get him out of there. He wouldn't be surprised if he spit back his apology upon his face.

Link held his head up, seeing Purlo's face. He heard what he said. To his surprise, he managed to give a little, crooked smile despite his agony. "Just… go…" the young man managed to say between labored breaths. "Please… tell them…"

Purlo was puzzled. "Them them... Tell who?" He asked Link. He winced and groaned, tensing at the bursts of pain that ran thought his being. Talking was taking so much energy out of him. He thought furiously and fast, trying to figure out who he just mentioned.

_Tell them. Tell them…_

Purlo's face shone. "Your friends!" He said exited. "To tell your friend about this… Is that what you say?"

Link nodded heavily.

The door slammed open, and the King Bulblin appeared in the door frame. Purlo froze in sudden fright. The monster saw him and anger came out with and angry groan. He approached him and snatched the water bag that was still on his hand. He sniffed it, and threw it to the corner of the room. He then grabbed the intruder by the collar, heaved from the flood and leaned him against the stone wall.

"Easy, easy, Mr. Creature…! I mean no harm! Please…" Purlo said under his breath, horrified that the monster would take retaliations against him. The King gazed him, frowned a little, turned his head to Link, and then back to the intruder. The minster chucked, and released Purlo from his grip. He fell to the floor on his knees, massaging his now sore neck.

The monster walked away to a wooden table in another corner of the room. He moved the metal weapons from one side to another from the table, searching for something. When he came back, he was holding an evident torture device. He took Purlo's hands and placed it there.

The Bulblin stood aside to make Link visible. Then he pointed at him with a fat finger. "Do it."

Purlo watched the monster astonished, then at the weapon put in his hands. It was a whip with tiny leather thongs. He'd never seen one of those before, and his hands began to shake. Now the monster wanted to do it. But, do what?

Realization came to his mind, to his stupid mind. "No…" The denial was merely breath of air. The King wanted him to torture Link. _To what?!_ No. He shook his head furiously in denial.

"Do it." The monster's guttural voice commanded him again. Purlo gazed Link for an instant. He was fully awake, watching the scene in front of him and not daring to open his mouth to say anything. His eyes were talking instead, but Purlo didn't know what to do with his dilemma.

He was no saint, he knew that clearly. And he also knew he had done some bad things in his life. _Like this, for example._ But this was enough. He couldn't - wouldn't do anything stupid again, anything that may compromise someone's well being, like Link's, or himself.

He filled himself with determination and pretended that the monster didn't scare him at all, nor will he force it to hurt Link in any way. He stood tall in front of him. "No." He said as firmly as his shaky lips allowed him, and threw the whip to King Bulblin's feet.

"Coward." Angrier that before, the monster took Purlo by his arm, and almost dragged him out of the room.

Purlo almost fought him all the way out. "Wait! Don't touch me! Where are you…" He didn't finish; the Bulblin threw him out of the room and he fell on his tailbone.

"Go away or you are dead!" And after that, the Bulblin returned to the room and closed the door after him.

Purlo hauled himself up again and ran to the door, but this time it was closed from the other side. This was it. Now surely his intrusion will cost Link a very bad time inside that torture room. He stood there, almost catatonic, with the big urge to broke down in tears. Even when he wasn't held prisoner there, he felt lost and helpless. Everything - the whole trip, the bounty – had been all in vain, just to leave him empty inside. After all he'd been through, how could he redeem himself and make him stop feeling guilty? His agonizing voice echoed in his ears.

"_Please… tell them…"_

"_Your friends… To tell your friends about this…"_

A ray of hope struck him like poured cold water over him. Not everything was lost. Link wanted some people to know, he asked him for that. He asked for his friends. He knew one, at least one. _What was his name?_ He scratched his hooded head, trying to remember.

_Rusl. His name is Rusl._ Yes, him. He'd seen him sometimes before in the Market and in Telma's Bar, along with Link. He knew he was a swordsman, he would know what to do. He turned and ran out from the dungeon. _He_ knew what to do.

000000000

Through the floating orb of dark energy, Ganondorf saw Purlo running out of the complex and take some green grass from the sand. Then he ran to his chariot and took a wallet from his bounty chest, and emptied of its rupies. Then he ran back inside Arbiter's Ground.

He was a fool, more that Ganondorf could imagine at first. He felt Purlo's dark side that made him perfect for his plans. But somehow he didn't noticed how weak of heart this human could be. He'd seen everything; how he tried to aided Link, his collision with King Bulblin, his denial… his fall. Now he was sure he would follow what his weak heart tells him. Too bad for him. He just wasted the opportunity of his lifetime; to have everything he wished for.

Although the Hero was already in his grasp, just a little information that may come out from the now softened Purlo could put his plans in jeopardy; the secrecy of this base, his future attack on Hyrule. This human must be stopped at once. Only this time, he would be more easier to neutralize.

0000000

It was all set really fast. The eagle arrived merely a minute or two after he blew the eagle grass, and was standing in the balcony rails of the high and ruined Mirror Chamber. Purlo just poured the last fistful of sand inside the wallet, and the sketch was already inside the wallet along with the sand. He then attached the wallet to one of the eagle's leg to secure it. He then took the eagle in his fore arm and gave him the instructions.

_Hope this works._

"Okay, eagle. Take this bag to - to…" Purlo paused. _What was his name?_ "Ah, yes…" _Rusl._ "Fly up with your pretty wings and take this to this Rusl guy as fast as you can. Do you understand?"

The eagle watched him intensely. "Good. I'll take that as a 'yes'." And with that, Purlo released the eagle to the open sky. The eagle flied away, and he watched it until it disappeared into the horizon. Purlo smiled almost triumphantly. After his fall, he could finally found redemption. Soon Rusl – or anybody else – will know about Link's whereabouts and will come for him. At the end he ended up as one of the good ones.

He sighed in relieved and turned to finally start his trip back home, just to be halted at the spot by a heavy armored Dark Nut. He stood in front of him like a statue, but he could feel the Knight was alive. He wondered how he didn't notice his presence before… Did he saw what he just did? Did he saw the eagle?

Purlo gulped saliva down his throat and spoke. "Eh…" His voice was shaky again. He was scared. "Can I help you with something…?"

In a blink of an eye, the Dark Nut raised his sword into the air, and swung it down, reaching Purlo's neck. He thought or felt nothing in the moment of instant terror; not when his own blood burst out from his neck arteries, not even when his severed head separated from the rest of his body and fell down to the floor. He just hoped his message would be delivered. Soon.

* * *

A/N: Wow! Almost half of the story is already done, I can hardly believe it!

Once again, another loooong chapter that took me a looong time to organize and to write down. As in previous chapters, this may have some language flaws on it. I read and re-read this doc to assure the least number of mistakes possible in both language and story plot. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

As always, review and let me know what you think :)


	9. Stone and Sand

_**Disclaimer:** Yep, you guessed it, nothing is mine._

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 9: Stone and Sand**_

A hoarse cry escaped his throat as the leather whip was connected with might and speed against his exposed back, the flesh burned where the weapon touched his opened wounds. Blood trickled from many of them, and the dull, intense pain it produced made his back to arch almost involuntary. After each hit, a cry followed almost every time the punishment was inflicted. He didn't want to cry out his pain anymore, his throat couldn't afford being forced to react; it felt as raw and bloody as the cuts on his back. But in the end, it was unavoidable.

The evil King Bulblin drew his hand back, throwing the instrument at the prisoner's raw back once more, and another cry followed. Link arched his back by instinct, not as if the movement would minimize the pain. It was the other way around all the time; no matter how much he jerked on the chains or how piercing he screamed, each whiplash slashed harder into him than before.

Link didn't remember for how long the Bulblin had been punishing him with the whiplash. He remembered that it started almost immediately after Purlo was practically kicked out of the dungeon, and it seemed like not so long ago; maybe some minute, or hours… Either way, he felt the torment had gone on for ages. The Bulblin then took the whip from the floor, walked out of his sight, and with no words of grunts, he began to whip his back.

In the middle of the fuzzy argument, he also remembered telling something to the man in front of him. But only that; what words his mind organized and made him almost spat at the man before him was lost there. It was hard to make his brain to work properly when it was so full of darkness and suffering.

He felt another hit, this time on his side, marking a new pattern of bruises in his body. With that, the pain in his ribcage turned more excruciating. And with each passing minute, heaving air into his lungs was draining him of his almost worn-out strength reserve. It was impossible to breathe without feeling any pain. This time, his cries weren't as loud as before. For his throat's sake, he was able to bit it back a little.

The punishment stopped as the door opened. When the biggest pain subdued, Link let his head fell forward, allowing blood to run from his mouth. His hair, damp and limp, covered his face. His body had slackened and the tremors, that had afflicted him for so long, had diminished in intensity. He now hung loosely from the ceiling, his breathing soft, but still somewhat labored. He heard footsteps coming fast. _Not again, _he thought as the he recognized the unmistakable sound of a Dark Nut's armor. He closed his eyes shut; the King Bulblin's presence was more that enough, and now another creature joined his slow slaughter. That was not a good sign.

His hair was pulled back by the hair, and he felt his back head wound reopened, fresh blood coming down from it. He grimaced and maintained his eyes shut. Another hand grabbed his chin almost burying his fingernail into the skin.

"Look at me, Hero." A voice ordered him, the Dark Nut's. It sounded muffled to his ears, though. His burning eyes fluttered open. He saw the Dark Nut. He couldn't control his shivering. "You should be grateful. Some people are not, and suffer severe consequences."

The Dark Nut raised his hand, and Link's sight was flooded by the hoodless head of Purlo, gripped by the hair, his dead eyes half open and without emotion. He widened his eyes in terror. He jerked his head away from the grim view, but the grip in his head and chin was tight. He shut his eyes against it all, but the image of the blood-dripping head was already fixed in his mind.

The Dark Nut spoke again. "No one's coming for you. This is your curse." And with that, the Knight left the place. The grips were released from his head, and Link's head fell forward again.

He fixed his sight to the floor, to the small puddle of blood and dripped from his pierced ankles and from other wounds. Now he remembered. So foggy, but still there…

"_Just… go… Please… tell them…"_

"_To tell your friend about this… Is that what you say?"_

They killed him. Ganondorf killed his latest puppet. He warned him in their first encounter about the sorcerer's intentions. But he wouldn't listen.

"_First me… then you… then… the whole world…"_

Or maybe he did listen. If he did listen to his words, he did it too late, and cost it his life. Was he caught before trying? Or was he able to send the message? Either way, he died because of him, and the thought that he might put his friends or anyone Purlo could contact – if he did – terrified him. His blood was enough; he couldn't risk any other's life just to let them know. But they _must _know. That's what he wanted Purlo to say if his heart was really converted. They must know that he – Ganondorf - had returned. He wanted them to prevent him to wreck havoc in Hyrule once more. But after the evil minion showed him the severed head of his only glint of hope, everything remained suspenseful and unknown to him.

With another slash to Link's back's living flesh, and another cry, his torment resumed. Pain took his place in his voice, his sore muscles, and his limps once more. His eyes flooded with tears, tears of pain, despair, and hopelessness. The Dark Nut was right, and so was Ganondorf. This was his curse.

000000000 000000000

Night began to fall in the dry village of Kakariko. Even though it was still a reduced population village, the news of Link's disappearance had rose tension, uneasiness, and uncertainty to the environment. Walking through the arid path, Rusl felt lost; he knew and didn't know what to do in such situation. He knew he had to act quickly, but didn't know where to start.

He had the help for his friends, Telma's group, as they call themselves. They were good in almost all fields: infiltration, battle, and even magic. Even the Goron Tribe would do everything available to aid them. They could work out with any little information they could have to establish a plan. But that was the primary problem, there were no clues about Link's captors or whereabouts, and so there was nothing to be done at the moment, and precious time is wasted.

"We have already sent our Gorons to see if anybody knows or have seen something." The Patriarch Darbus forwarded to Rusl. "We have contacted the Gorons living at Hyrule Market and some went the Lake Hylia and beyond, to Zora's Domain."

"Hyrule is big, it could take days to just find out something that could lead us to where he is," Shad said.

"Or to know what happened to him." Rusl added, arms crossed and staring blankly to the front.

"The Gorons are helping us, it will make the whole process easier to us," Ashei addressed to the rest. "It's… somehow true that it will take some time, but I'm sure that in the meantime, Link is holding on. He's a fighter, we all know it."

Rusl smiled slightly at young Ashei's optimism. It worried him that he didn't share these feelings with the same security as she did. Deep inside, he knew something was just not right… Well, it was clear things were not right; one of their own was lost. But it was something in the air, some discomfort in the air, like…

…when the twilight covered the land some time ago.

"Hey, look," Ashei suddenly said, pointing her finger at the sky, snapping him out and the rest of the group there. It took some seconds to them to visualize a small spot far in the horizon. As the spot flied closer, it took the form of a bird.

"It's the eagle," Auru said, they glanced to his friends, frowning. "Did anyone summon it?"

Ashei shook his head, and so did Shad. Auru glanced at Rusl. "Not me…"

The eagle approached over them and descended to Rusl's spot, flapping its wings. He raised his forearm and the eagle stopped on it like if it was a habit for the flying animal to do it. He noted a bag attached to its legs, and he untangled it carefully. Once its legs were lighter, the eagle flied again, but to a tree branch near them, watching them intently.

Rusl saw the somewhat heavy leather bag. "Well, it came right to you. Someone must have sent this… wallet to you." Shad said to Rusl.

Following his curiosity - and the rest's – he opened the wallet and introduced his hand inside. But instead of rupies it was sand that what came out in his hand. It was so fine and soft that it fell down through his fingers. "Sand?" Rusl thought aloud.

"Such fine sand is only found at the desert," Auru was surprised. He scratched his head, thoughtful. "But I don't get it. Who, or why…"

Rusl turned the wallet upside down and emptied the content. The sand fell on more sand, dark and thick. He agitated the bag to empty the last particles, but something else fell over the sand pile. A piece of fabric, a rolled up piece of fabric. Or wool. He bent over, took it up and unfolded it. It revealed some kind of drawing, steady and somewhat shaky lines and curves connected to each other and forming the print of a building he didn't recognized. A line started as the top of the sketch and ran through the apparent building print, and ended abruptly at the bottom with and "X" mark. Rusl thought about a treasure chest buried there.

"It's a map," Ashei said, amazed.

"To a treasure?" Shad said almost innocently.

"No," Rusl answered. It surely looked like so until he noticed another drawing in the corner of the fabric piece. It looked like a wild animal to him; two pointy ears, menacing looking eyes, an open mouth with it teeth showing. _A wild boar. _Everyone was looking on it.

"I've seen this drawing before," Auru said to Rusl, pointing at the drawing.

"Me too, but don't remember where," Rusl replied to him.

"I do remember," Auru replied back. Everyone lifted their eyes to him, waiting of more. "I've seen it in an old complex in the desert, inside the old prison."

"Do you mean the Arbiter's Ground?" Shad said.

"Yes." Auru kneeled and took a pinch of the discarded sand between his fingers. "It's the only area where you can find sand like this. Of course… and the map represents some area inside the prison. It all makes sense." He stopped, and frowned. "But the boar drawing…"

"What? What about the drawing?" Ashei asked to Auru, or better said to anyone who might know the answer.

"The ancient tribe that loved there represented the greatest of evil with a wild boar." Rusl answered the question. "Not only the Gerudo did, it's also represented like so in the legends," Rusl paused, gulped saliva, and continued. "The legends of the Hero of Time."

Shad wide eyes looked at Rusl. "You mean…"

"It can't be possible," Auru said in disbelief. "He was vanished. Link did it himself. He told us and so it was destined by the Triforce."

"You're right, but it is a possibility." Shad said while accommodating his glasses.

A possibility. A possibility that Rusl wished not to be true.

_Ganondorf._ Ganondorf returned.

Nothing was for sure or was enough to jump on conclusions, But there was only one way to find out.

"Patriarch Darbus?" Rusl called. The Goron Chief stepped forward. "We might need your help." Darbus chuckled and slammed his fist against his palm. He obviously knew what it meant.

Auru looked at his friend again. "Do you have a plan in mind?"

"Not yet," Rusl replied. "The only thing I know is that… there might be some action ahead. Are you up for that?"

The whole group smiled at the petition. That was an unnecessary question, for Rusl knew their answers.

_Link, we'll find you. Soon._

_

* * *

_**A/N: **Well, a calculus test and a hurricane later, here is the latest chapter. I hope the next one would not take me too long to post. And I promise that it will get better.

As always, leave you review. Thank you :)_  
_


	10. Backfire

Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda.

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 10: Backfire**_

They were moving him; that was the only thing he could tell and barely feel. Link didn't remember when the torture stopped or even when he was taken down from the chains that kept him hanging from the ceiling. Still everything hurt as bad as before. He crack-opened his eyes, but he only saw the high ceiling moving over him. His eyes fluttered and he fought to maintain them open, but his gaze grew blurry. He lolled his head to the side but could barely make out his surroundings. He didn't recognize the place.

_Where am I? Gods, where am I now?_

The movement stopped and a door creaked open - …_more doors…_ - and Link was hauled up by two pairs of hands on both his forearms. He yelled at the brute action; one hand touched his injured shoulder. The wanted him to stand up, or so he thought. He tried to move his legs but they were caught by the tangled barbwire around them. As soon as he was up, they dragged him a few steps forward into the new room, and threw him into it, Link landing face first on the floor with a cry. "See you again soon," a mocking voice said and then the door closed.

Link laid on the floor. Gritting his teeth, fighting his violent shivering, he moved to his side and curled himself into a ball. Tears filled his eyes; he felt frantic and desolate. His emotions caught in a tangled gulp of panic, his pain now enveloping every corner of his being. Forcing his eyes to clear the blurriness made him more dizzy and nauseous. He retched and vomited the sole content his stomach had; the water Purlo gave to him.

_How much time since then? For how long…?_

He lost every sense of orientation; time, place… They were nothing in his mind, there was no space for them. He felt desperate, his situation was distorting the bits sanity left on him. He closed his eyes but didn't want to sleep; he was afraid not to wake up again. He opened them again quickly despite their heaviness.

_I'm becoming crazy…_

Or worst…

…_I'm dying. I'm going to die here._

No. He shook away those unwanted thoughts; he wanted to fill his weakened mind with anything else. Anything that could help him to forget his desolation.

_Think of something pretty._

He closed his eyes, trying to control his ragged breathing. He concentrated in memories, hidden images from some corner of his brain that may remain intact.

_The village entrance… high trees… the spring, its fresh water, the ranch full of playful goats…_

His eyelids fluttered, but he shut them back; remembering the scenes was working.

_Epona grazing by his house… the village's houses and the sun shining… the Pergie and her cat, his sons Malo and Talo… Rusl and his family… Ilia, sweet Ilia, his father, and the children; their giggles…_

…

_Sudden blackness… pale, sandy stone walls… King Bulblin with a big axe… no, that club… now with the whip… the blurry sight of the Dark Nut with Purlo's head in his grasp… Ganondorf witnessing his torment, grinning, almost chuckling… the Dark Man's face transforming into a hideous animal... a loud growl…_

Link eyes snapped wide open, hyperventilating. He blinked furiously to erase the intrusion of those hideous images. Not even in his mind could he be or feel free? He forced his numb body to move; he dragged himself forward, slowly moving to not worsen his bruises or the pain it produced. He dragged until he found the far corner of the wall. He sat and curled against it, succumbing to his misery. He tentatively rubbed one hand on his other arm to ease his cold feeling. He hissed when he accidentally touched the dart incrusted spot in his shoulder; in the inconsistency of his pain, he forgot about it. He rounded it softly around it, and then touched the wooden dart; the partial cause of his capture…

He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and rounded the tip of the dark with his fingers. A jolt of pain struck the wound, but despite his trembling digits he maintained the grip. He breathed once again, and began to pull the dart out of the skin. The pull didn't last much, but the dart didn't come out, didn't even move. He made the superhuman effort not to let himself scream, but in the end a groan escaped his raw throat. Frustrated and suddenly angry, he released the grip and took it again, and pulled. The dart was deep, it wasn't moving, but the wooden piece was not going to defeat him. He continued pulling it; he shut his eyes, groaned for the pain it produced.

_I… can't… anymore…_

When he felt his strength began to drain out, the dart give, but merely half centimeter. He must continue, it was finally giving, but he was so weak he couldn't hold it anymore. The grip was released, he gasped, exhausted, drowsy. After all, a stupid dart defeated him.

Link let his head fell back, wincing when his head collided to the wall, his injured head. He felt tired, his eyes burned, his body pulled to the edge. He needed to sleep, but was afraid of nightmares, afraid that someone would come there and resume the torture yet again. Afraid of Ganondorf coming in through the door. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a few second and opened them back again, he could feel better. So he did it.

He couldn't open them again.

00000000

Another night fell over the dunes of Gerudo Mesa. From the top of the watchtower, the Bulblin, along with two other of his kind, watched the entrance that lead to the camp and to Arbiter's Ground. He placed his bow on his back and took out his telescope. Compromised with the security of both the complex and of his master Ganondorf, he watched through the telescope and resumed his surveillance around the desert borders.

He saw a sparkling spot in a cliff to his East. He frowned and adjusted the telescope, zooming in the lens. It looked blurry at first, but little by little the sparkling spot clearly became a bonfire. He frowned again, and gazed through the telescope once more, more intently this time as he adjusted it even more.

Now he could see some dark figures around the bonfire; three, maybe four. They looked like horses, man-horses, or centaurs. As he kept watching one of the centaurs was on fire. He zoomed in more, and realized that the centaur had the body of a woman. But she was holding something in her hands. Looked like she was holding fire.

Then the fire left her hands; it was becoming bigger and bigger very quickly, or better said closer… to him. It was too late when he finally realized that the growing ball of fire was, in fact, a fire-up arrow shoot toward him. The telescope slipped from his hands as the arrow hit him just in his forehead. He didn't had time to alert the army, he just felt down from the watchtower, hitting the sand above like a big stone.

The other Bulblins turned as the fellow guardian fell down the watching spot. They looked at each other, then watched their surroundings. Another arrow hit another watcher, and fell to the ground. Then another shot, and another minion was down. The rest of the army glanced around them, but could not watch the source of the shooting. One of the Bulblins looked up and saw a falling ball of fire coming from the sky. The ball of fire hit the ground and exploded, causing an even bigger ball of fire to expand around the army. Another ball of fire was thrown at the blocked entrance of the Arbiter's Ground exposing it.

From their line of sight and, as if the confusion of the creatures army wasn't enough, a rolling pack of big brown things came toward the unfolding hellfire. They stopped and unrolled to reveal themselves, and began to fight, throwing punches and throwing the creatures away as ragged dolls. One of them recognized that kind, their race: Gorons. They cursed the goddesses at the irony of the situation; they had been ambushed. The unannounced battle had begun.

0000000

"Nice shots, Ashei," Auru congratulated the young female as her arrows hit the targets easily, while he kept his telescope away. The group saw as the Gorons, using their catapults, fired blazing boulders against the entrance guardians; their little "hot" gift from Death Mountain. Later, the Gorons made their way, dispatching the rest of the minions. They were doing just what was planned earlier. "Now it's time to move."

Rusl nodded, then addressed to the Hylian group. "Ashei, Shad, you stay here at the cliff. Auru and will enter the complex and follow the map. When you see the situation is under control, come down to the entrance with the cart, whether we are there or not." Rusl breathed deeply. "If the map was drawn accurately, I don't expect this to take much time."

"We will be ready," Shad assured both Rusl and Auru.

"Bring Link back," Ashei said. With that said, the senior duo turned mounted on their horses, and headed to the battlefield.

When they arrived, the Gorons were still fighting the monsters' army, but it seemed like the good side was taking control. The creatures kept appearing from the prison camp; Bulblin, Bokoblins, and armed Dynalfos kept coming into the battle, but just to be neutralized by the bigger fighters. They dismounted their horses and unsheathed their swords, and began to make their way to the ruined prison.

Armored creatures and Bulblins came toward them and intended to halt their progress. Rusl and Auru adopted their fighting stances and fought them. The Bulblins were dispatched rather easily as they were poorly armored. By the other hand, the Dynalfos seemed to be more skilled with their weapons and their armors resisted most of their blows.

That strength represented a big problem to Rusl; battling these minions was taking him precious time. They knew they were there to rescue Link, and if he didn't hurry and reached the map's marked spot soon, the other creatures inside would surely go for Link and kill him.

_If he was still alive._

Rusl shook that ridiculous thought from his head and taken back to reality as he heard Auru's voice. "Rusl! Watch out!"

Rusl turned and saw a Dynalfos jumping over him, ready to cut him in two. But Rusl was able to catch him first as he swung his sword with the creature in mid air, the armored lizard falling to the ground… slice up in two halves. If Auru hadn't shouted at him, he would have been the one bleeding in the sand.

"Rusl, go ahead and find the corridor!" Auru shouted in the middle of a sword swings' exchange. "I'll take care of them! Go now!"

Rusl glanced him, watched him fight. He was right, he must go alone inside. He turned from the battle and ran to the complex, making his way against the evil army. He was close. No one would stop him.

000000000

A/N: Don't know about you, but I'm linking this. Are you?

Please, Review. Thank You


	11. Delirium

Disclaimer: I own nothing Zelda related (places, names, characters, etc.).

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 11: Delirium**_

Darkness again. That black sheet was getting heavier by the minute. He stood there, or at least he felt like standing… The only thing he knew was that he was _there_; his mind was there, but nothing more. Fortunately, he felt alone. It was the first time he felt relieved that no one appeared to be near him; for long hours the definition of company meant confrontations, blood, and pain.

Pain. The ever-present feeling was everywhere, not only in the light but in that darkness too. Black and pain, or pain and light, it doesn't matter, they were always together in any world every time his restless sleep – or any blow to his head – took him. And it would never leave. It was getting unbearable, excruciating, extending like tree branches to every end of his being, physical and non-physical. Any time anyone came close to him, the pain got worst. At that moment, he preferred being alone that being "accompanied" by someone.

Of all of his body, his back felt the worst. Those slashes must have torn chunks of skin apart of it, living it in bleeding, live flesh. A big knot was constantly tying his brain like a lightning bolt. He felt his inner organs pounding painfully against his chest and ribcage, as if trying to escape the host that could not hold them any longer. He couldn't feel his feet from the ankles down. Maybe they were cut off from the rest of the legs and he didn't even noticed, didn't even fight to prevent it, to prevent all this from happening. He was tired. He didn't even want to move a single hair. He wanted to rest. The blackness surrounding him should help him to rest, but up to the moment it wasn't happening.

He couldn't avoid thinking what if they come back to take him again. He was sure he could not endure more punishment of any kind. If Ganondorf wanted to break him and make him suffer in the most horrifying way, he just accomplished it. Maybe next time they return for him, would be to kill him. Maybe that was the best. Death would take pain away, and he could finally rest peacefully anyplace away from his hard, fetid cell, even if that meant to leave everyone and everything behind; his loyal friends at the village, his home, his belongings, his whole life.

Maybe that came with the whole ordeal of becoming an anonymous savior. After carrying the mark of the goddesses, and after tasting the sweet favor of victory and peace, came the sudden hit of the downfall. The thought that everything he fought so restless and passionately for was all in vain, was just more fuel that fed the hot flames of his depression.

And so he stood there, floating in utter darkness and the non-stop torment of pain, waiting for the gods and goddesses to dictate his final destiny.

Far away, he felt the presence of someone. He couldn't see, but someone or something was approaching. _Maybe death. Or maybe them…_

_Them._

The image of the monstrous creatures in his mind coming for him made his gut jump in terror. He suddenly felt the urge to run away, to avoid any close encounter with them again. But he could not move, could not even open his mouth to call out. He didn't want more pain, or want to hear himself screaming to the point of hoarseness, or want to see his own blood scattered on walls and floors. He wanted to get out of there. He wanted peace.

Then the faint sound clashing against something. They were coming again. He tried to move again, but the darkness held it tightly in the same spot, without his sword to defend himself.

He heard a slow creaking, so far away yet. It sounded like the door was opening. But anything else. He forced his ears to listen a bit clearer, but the attempt resulted in a sharp headache striking his head, making him nauseous. He could feel the presence approaching very slowly. As the presence got near, the coldness in the dark began to dissipate, returning him a little of lost heat to his cold body. Cold. He felt so cold…

A voice. Now someone's fade voice invaded his personal void. It said something, but he couldn't understand what was saying. It sounded like his ears were clogged with two balls of dirt, and by the sound of it, he didn't knew if it was getting closer or was still far away from him.

But no. It was getting closer. Now he could feel it. The presence, the heat, the voice, all of them were coming for him. It was confusing. Ganondorf's minions usually stumped in the place and took him out fast and speechless. But now this… thing, was slow, apparently cautions. And the break of that habit, far from calming him, made him want to run away from there.

"Li…" He heard someone said, but he catch just the echo of it. Suddenly, it was closer. So close he could feel it breathing over him. The heat got abruptly hotter, nothing he couldn't endure, but menacingly hot. They were going to burn him now. It was definitive they were going to kill him. He wanted to run, but was frozen on the same place.

He felt a hand touching his head, right in the wound of his head, and the pain and dizziness intensified a little. A hand? Since when Bulblins had hands instead of claws?

_Maybe it was Ganondorf's hand_. The hand retired, but it touched his head again, but now it was a gentle touch, caring. This time, it didn't touched his head wound.

"Lin… you hea…" It talked again, a little voice, but still couldn't figure out what it was saying. He didn't even recognize the voice.

"…it's me, Rusl… ase, open your…" His mind jolted. Rusl… So familiar… But couldn't remember where he heard that word.

A long pause, then it spoke again. "Open your eyes, Link… you have… live, Hero… wake…" Now the voice sounded desperate, urging him to obey. Anything was forced at all, as in other times. He was bewildered; his head began to spin as he tried to find a reason to this strange feeling in every corner of this shattered mind.

_Rusl. Link. Hero. Eyes. Wake. Live. Link. Rusl…_

…

_Rusl!_

His mind cried in a mix of joy and fright. His heart beat so fast that he felt it would explode inside him. Now the word "life" had regained its meaning to him. He had to live. He gathered all the strength he had left inside him and decided to ignore the pain and break the invisible binds that held him stiff in place. Feeling pain in the process, he felt as moving. But he managed to move only his head.

"Yes, Link… here with me… Come on, open your eyes…" He could hear him, still echoing, but clearly there, clearly him, his friend. He tried again to move, but the whole ordeal made his pain worsen. Now not only his head hurt, but also his chest, his arms. Everything hurt, but nothing moved. Frustrated, he decided to concentrate on trying another approach, the one that his mentor was so desperately for him to do.

_Open your eyes._

He concentrated his remaining strength in opening his eyes, his weakness growing by the second. His lungs felt like burning, and he began to pant for air. Slowly, he felt his eyes were opening, and light greeted his sight, cutting through the dark as a tunnel, revealing a worried face in front of him. He blinked to clear his sight a bit, and fixed his eyes on Rusl.

"Hey Link. We're finally here for you." After so many days in despair, his loud voice was like soft music to his sensible ears. He would faint in any second, he knew it. His presence lit the spark of hope he just needed. Unconsciously, he managed to move his face muscles, at least a little, and smiled. That simple movement left him almost breathless, now he was feeling limp, every limb of his body hurt as never before. As much as he wanted to stay awake, he couldn't. He simply couldn't.

Heaviness filled his eyelids. Once again, he was trapped in blackness.

0000000000000

Rusl stool in front of the dark wood and metal door on the dimly lit prison corridor and looked at it for a few seconds. This was it. This must be the cell where Link had being held prisoner by Ganondorf and his minions since it was the most isolated cell there. The door had a lock and chains tied on it. But there was no time to look for keys. The battle was waging outside and it was a matter of time since someone could find him there. Sword in hand, Rusl slashed down the lock and chains that secure the cell, and with a swift, strong kick against it, the door swung open.

The cell was windowless, with the exception of a tiny hole on the far side of a wall. Even with his oil lantern light, the cell was almost pitch black. He could barely see the humid stone walls and floor. A mixed smell of rusted metal and blood flooded his nostrils. As he swung his lantern to investigate the surroundings, he could see that the stone floor was covered with some crimson smears. His desperation escaladed when he could not feel any one else than him there.

"Link?" He whispered to the blackness. No answer. No sound. Maybe Link was not there.

Still, a presence there made Rusl's neck back hairs raise in sudden scare. Someone was there, still hidden in the shadows. Rusl turned the lantern to where he though heard the almost inaudible sound, and the first thing he spotted on a corner was a pair of pale, bare feet one or two meters away from him. Bruised feet grimly tied up with what seemed to be barbwire right up in the ankles. Fresh blood emanated from where some of the sharp and dull wire points penetrated the skin.

As he approached to the corner, the light began to reveal a half sit, curled human form with the knees up to the chest. The figure was dressed only in partially torn pants, there was hardly a place on the fabric that was not covered with red smears. The hands were kind of hidden in the space between the raised knees and the chest.

As he continued his approaching, the lantern light continued to reveal more details from the fallen form. The light finally reached the person's face. The head was bowed down and against the wall as if for supporting it from falling forward. Blood-caked, dirty hair strands covered the ears, eyes, and part of the face, leaving only the area of a bloody mouth and chin visible.

_It can't be him_, Rusl inner voice said in a horrified way. He quickly tuned the lantern to the hands once more, looking for the sign, the only mark that would proof the identity of his pupil, the Chosen One, the Hero. But it was there, partly hidden by dried blood, was the faint mark of the triangles on the back of the unmoving left hand. It wasn't glowing.

"Link!" Rusl gasped almost out of breath and immediately dropped on his knees to take a closer look. He couldn't tell at first if Link was dead of alive, since he didn't show any sign of breathing. Not even his chest looked like he was breathing. Putting the lantern on the floor, Rusl lifted Link's head between his hands to see his face. "Link?" Rusl trembling voice repeated once more, hoping Link could hear him. With one hand, Rusl waved the strands of dirty hair off his ghostly pale face, and felt his hand wet, and discovered it was soaked with the blood that dripped from one of the cuts from his forehead. His eyes were closed, the right eye was swollen and showing a mixture of red and purple. His chapped lips were partly open, and a trace of blood ran from the corner of his mouth and down the chin.

"Link? Link, can you hear me?" Rusl said, fighting the tears in his burning eyes, but Link wasn't moving, didn't even give a twitch. He urged Link for a sign of life, for something that could tell him that all this idea of a rescue mission was not going to be in vain. He needed him, the village needed him, the whole Hyrule needed their Savior.

"Link, it's me, Rusl. Please open your eyes. Please…" Rusl said, now with his voice fully scared. No, he would not accept Link's death. Never. The man who he almost raised, teached, and embarked in a journey to free the land from tyranny, killed by the hideous man who he destroyed and vanished away barely two years ago. It was unacceptable.

Rusl ran his hand through Link's hair once more, and tried one more time. "Open your eyes, Link. Please you have to live, Hero. Please, wake up…" His last words turned into a whisper full of despair. Link didn't respond, didn't move. Still with his beaten face in his hands, Rusl sworn that the responsible for this was going to pay, the hard, slow and painful way. Ganondorf will be torn apart by his own hands and by his own sword. No one messes with his friends or his family. Human or beast. No one.

Movement in his hands. Rusl felt movement and made him snap from his grim fantasy. He looked to Link once again, and saw that he moved his head slightly backwards. Rusl eyes almost glinted. That was a sign of life. His quick prayer was answered, after all.

"Yes, Link. That's it. You're here with me. Come on, open your eyes," Rusl hurried his pupil, full of hope. For a few seconds, Link's face remained as slack as before. But then Link's features weakly contracted into a pain grimace, and was clearly struggling to open his eyes. He suddenly began to pant for air, every breath he took made his lips shiver. Rusl almost cry of joy when Link finally managed to slowly open his eyes. The right eye was only partly open because of the swelling.

When Link finally opened his eyes, his gaze was disoriented while trying to be adjusted to the dim lantern light that filler the dark corner. He blinked one long time trying to focus on the face that was intently looking at him. Rusl smile to him. "Hey Link," he managed to say through the knot in his throat. "We're finally here for you."

After these words, Link's mouth gave a little twitch, not parting his bloodshot gaze from Rusl. It seemed to him that Link actually tried to smile, but obviously he didn't have the strength to fully materialize it. Link could hear him. Another good sign.

His face started to slacken off again, and his eyes began to flutter. He was hurt and weak, even a simple blink could exhaust him. At the same time, a huge tremor shook the place, making Rusl to almost lose his balance. Then another tremor as intense as the first. Pebbles began to fall down from the ceiling and walls. The whole encounter with Link almost made Rusl forget about the forced entrance to the enemy base. Maybe the battle had extended to the prison area. Now, for sure, he needed to hurry.

He turner back to Link again, who fell unconscious once more, but Rusl could see his chest slowly contracting from breathing. He bent over to pick Link up. He carried the frail man in his arms, his head sunk on his shoulder, and with hurry steps, he exit the cell.

The prison walls kept shaking as explosions continued to take over the falling base. Rusl almost ran all the passage ways of the prison, trying to keep his balance on the way, and avoiding all the debris cumulated on the floor. Barely six meters before reaching the stairway to the exit, he halted his pace as he saw a shadow moving downstairs. He froze on the spot watching the shadow stepping down the stairs. Maybe one of the beasts. _Maybe the same Ganon._

His priority now was to protect Link and get out of there. He couldn't get himself in a fight when he was so close from getting out, much more if another life depended so critically on him now. He turned around the same way he came and decided to find another way out. But half the way, another explosion, and on the far end, the rocks and wood stakes blocked the way he came through. There was no other way out. The beasts were coming. They were trapped.

00000000

A/N: Another chapter here. Once again, college is killing me, so it'll take some days for me to post again.

Like it? Hate It? Cookies? Flames? Just review and let the freedom of speech flow all over you. Thank you :)


	12. Blessed Fire From The Sky

Disclaimer: I don't own _The Legend of Zelda_; it belongs to Nintendo.

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 12: Blessed Fire From The Sky**_

Rusl turned again and waited until the shadow finally appeared on sight. The dust from the recent fires and commotions filled the air and made it hard to breathe. He still carried the unconscious Link in his arms, close to him in a protective way. He could sense his intermittent breathing in his chest, and he could sense that he was slightly shivering.

Now gazing the stairs, he waited whatever was coming down to show up, holding his breath. The steps were slowly moving, but getting closer by the second. The light of a torch gaining intensity as it step down the stone step. The steps hurried and the figure finally came into view.

"Oh Rusl! I finally find you!"

That was a girl's voice. Then, recognition struck Rusl.

"Ashei!" Exclaimed Rusl, releasing his breath in great relieve. A torch was on her hand, a sword firmly held on the other. A smile drawn on her girly face.

"It's time to go. The bay is almost clear now," Ashei said with excitement in her voice, and almost out of air. As she finished the line, her gaze fixed on the man carried by his friend, Rusl. Her excitement suddenly faded in a more serious expression. "Come on, we have to hurry," she said, clearly realizing that the more they stay there, the faster the chances of Link's survival fade away.

00000000000

Now up on the surface and on the moonlit night, the battle was waging over, slowly. There were still some of his allies battling against the nightmarish creatures that used to run the deserted place. Some of the base's debris scorching under dancing flames. At some moment, Rusl lost every sense of direction and didn't know where he was going. Following Ashei was the only thing that was keeping him on track. Hopefully, the place was already clean of creatures or any grotesque thing that may appear there.

After a long half run, Rusl saw the gate to their freedom. "Finally."

"Yes, the caravan is just outside the gate. All came up just as planned," said a somehow cheerful Ashei as celebrating tonight's victory. Rusl exhaled of relieve as looking down to Link. His eyes still closed and his scratched features remained slack, still oblivious to the actual situation. He couldn't wait to take him to a safe place and tend his wounds. Link was strong. Rusl was now sure he was going made it out alive.

As they step to the gate, a flock of fiery arrows halted their walk abruptly. Rusl and Ashei halted and took a step back and looked around trying to find the hostile archers. But all they were able to see were the upcoming creature army walking upon them. They were maybe dozens, and no a single one of them was unarmed. Every Bulblin and Dynalfos has either clubs, rusty scimitars, bows, or double axes in their claws. Rusl tried to back up as Ashei raised her sword and adopted a fighting stance. But the Bulblins were all around them. Too much of them, maybe dozens; even in their best times, both Rusl and Ashei could not dispatched them before being killed first. Where did they come from if the base was already taken over? The army was approaching by the second, ready to tear them apart.

The circle of enemies readied their weapons, Ashei got her grip of her sword tightly. The only thing Rusl could – and would - do was to protect Link against any blow that could come to him. He was ready to get hurt in order to save him.

A big column of light struck in the middle of the circle, near the Hylian warriors. The light was so intense that the whole surroundings turned into a blinding white-yellow color. The Bulblins and Dynalfos, as well as the Hylians had to either cover their eyes or close them to minimize the eye burn. When the brilliance of the light began to dissipate, the light column remained at the same spot, unmoving. After the whole bunch could slowly adjust their eyes to the blinding emanating light, they all focus on the intruding and hypnotizing light column that reached to the moonlit sky. In front of their eyes, the column began to slowly shrink in diameter, as if it was going to disappear. Instead, the shrinking column was taking the form of a human body; a slender, female body.

But only the body: her head was faceless, no eyes, no lips. What seemed to be her hair was neatly combed away of her forehead. Her hands were raised and entwined to her chest. Her legs were close to each other, and her fingerless feet were not touching the floor. It was floating, like an imposing statue made out of smooth, solid gold.

Everyone stood there, some bewildered, other amazed, and the rest just blankly staring at it. For those seconds, Rusl and Ashei forgot that they were in the middle on a battlefield, and the creatures forgot – thankfully – that they were going to destroy some intruders. But not everyone. With an annoying shriek, one Bulblin ran forward to the light figure, its axe in hand, ready to slice it away. It didn't reach half the way; the Bulblin exploded in a ball of flames with no apparent source of ignition. The flaming parts of the creatures flied in random directions; one arm hit a Dynalfos in the face, another unrecognizable limb hit another in the shoulder, and its axe landed barely a meter away from Rusl's feet.

The creatures began mumbling in their strange way, looking at each other. As confused as Rusl was, there was one thing clear; this golden being was powerful and not to be mess with if you didn't want to end with the same fate as the dead creature. There was something in the air, he could perceive it since the golden woman appeared, but wasn't sure what it was. But as his mind tried to answer his questions, the army of Bulblins and Dynalfos began to shriek in unison, like screaming, agitating their weapons in the air. And as on cue, they began to run toward the being, and worst, toward the Hylians behind it, them.

The army merely advanced some steps when the floating light being exploded in a ball of flames, reacting in a big explosion that reached the circular area and beyond, scorching weeds and sand at the same time as the grotesque army was burned up like tormented worms.

Everything was burning, except the warriors.

The warriors watched, amazed, that they were indeed inside the same ball as the evil army. They could see them burning up, falling down, dying, but the flames didn't approached them. It didn't even feel the extreme hotness of the fire. It all looked like they were protected by both the fire dome and the air bubble inside it. In the middle of the strangely calm inferno, the golden woman turned and faced the Hylian warriors, and her absent eyes fixed on the mustached man and the young man who he was carrying in his arms.

"Save him…" An echoing but soft, feminine voice filled the fire reduced space, but at the same time louder than the crackling sound of flames around them. Rusl looked down to Link, then to the golden woman. It was reassuring, firm, and powerful. An order that must be follow.

The fire began to dissipate, compacting the flames behind the woman, as a phoenix taking back its spread flames wings to its place. A moment later, and almost at the speed of light, the figure parted, flying straight up to the immense sky, leaving a faint column of light that traced her way to the heavens. The only thing on sight now was the vast desert, a ruined prison, and the scattered piles of both Bulblins and Dynalfos' gray ashes all over the place.

A galloping sound snapped Rusl from his stupor. He turned his head to find the source of the sound, and spotted not far from them a caravan pulled by a horse ridden by a young man with lens, and another horse with its rider on it.

"Hey!" The male rider screamed at them, agitating his hand in the air. Both the caravan and the rider were approaching fast to them. As they did, Rusl recognized them; the man pulling the caravan was Shad, and the rider with gray mustache and beard was Auru, both his allies. "Are you alright?"

The caravan stopped two meters away from the Hylians. Auru frowned as he saw the piles of ashes and abandoned weapons on the ground.

"Something very interesting happened here," said Ashei while mounting on the tented caravan.

"Sure thing," said Shad from the front of the caravan. "We can talk about that later. Now, let's get out of this ugly place."

For Rusl, it was the exact thing he wanted to do, to get away from that hellish place, the place that served as Link's torture chamber and, for merely a hair, could have also served as both his and Link's tomb.

"Here, let me help," said Ashei, gesturing Rusl to come closer. Carefully, Rusl handed Link's limp body to Ashei, and she half dragged him on the caravan's wooden floor and laid him there. Then Rusl mounted the caravan. The warriors seated on the floor one on Link's each side. Inside the caravan were some closed jars full of water, some food and some colorful, wool blankets. Rusl took one folded blanket and put it under Link head as a makeshift pillow. Then took another blanket to cover his beaten body.

With extreme care and fighting against the galloping movement of the caravan, Rusl removed the wired restraints off his feet. The wires were so tight that his feet were swollen due to the lack of blood circulation to the limbs. As the wires were removed, the incrusted thorns were also removed away from the skin, leaving reddish bruises around the ankles. Drops of blood emanated from the holes left by the thorns. Link made no movement, no sound.

With a piece of rag and a little water from one jar, Ashei began to softly clean up the dirt and blood from Link's face. At times, she frowned sadly as she was noticing how weak he looked and how bad his wounds were. There were bruises, dark spots, and cuts all over his face and neck. The cut in his forehead near the hair line looked really deep and a little infected. One eye was swollen, and traces of blood appeared to have dripped down his nose and the corners of his mouth. Even his ears seemed to have bled at some time. Ashei felt the sudden urged to cry; to see his friend and a goddesses' blessed warrior in such condition was truly heartbreaking.

When Ashei attempted to clean the forehead wound, Link weakly moved his head away. Both Ashei and Rusl looked each other; at least he responded to touching. Then he slightly moved it to the other side, and slowly opened his eyes. The pair of Hylians suddenly invaded Link's sight, his eyes full of pain and weariness.

Ashei took his hand and began stroking the back of it. "We are taking you home now, Link. Just hang on," she said, no more than a whisper because of the knot in her throat.

Link's gaze seemed to be fixed on the two faced above him. He blinked once, Rusl saw that blink before, and then he understood. Link was trying to communicate with them with every long and tired blink he made. Rusl gently put a hand on Link's chest. He could feel his heart beat and his raising movements, silently struggling to get air. His breathing sounded soft and raspy.

"It is over, Link. We'll take care of you," Rusl said in an attempt to reassure him and to, somehow, give him some strength to hold on.

It was then when Ashei felt small movements in her hands. They both smile as they observed how Link's fingers moved between Ashei's hands. They were slow and shaky movements, but a clear sign that he was, indeed, holding on to life.

His face then contorted by the obvious pain present in his body, and squeezed his eyes shut tightly, as if battling a bad headache, a groan of pain escaping his throat. Rusl put a hand on his forehead, and felt it warm. He opened his eyes again, but immediately began to flutter. Link was trying desperately to keep his eyes open. Rusl knew the fever made him feel exhausted, and the simply task to stay awake could drain the remnants of his strength away.

"Don't force it. It is okay to rest. You need it now," said Rusl. Link's eyes fluttered two or three more time before fully obeying his mentor in his request to rest, and closing his eyes completely, only his breathing his sign of life. He was surely free from the beasts' deadly grasp now, but his life was still in danger.

"Shad, go faster. This is getting bad." Rusl screamed to Shad, the caravan rider.

"Come on, Epona, go faster now. We're almost at the bridge…" was Shad's response, accompanied by the sound of a swift slash of a leather strap.

His days of struggle were over, but if they didn't hurry, the aftermath could him kill him at any moment.

0000000000

_A/N: Does anyone know who aided Link and his friends in this chapter? Sugar cookies to those who figured out..._

_Hint: It it heavily mentioned in OoT and also appears briefly in TP. Also, it's a very "powerful"... thing. Guess it? C'mon, it very easy! :)  
_

_Be kind. Review. Thank you.  
_


	13. The Chase

Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo. I'm making no money by using their characters and writing this story.

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 13: The Chase**_

The moon stood high in the sky as the caravan approached to Kakariko Village. Although it was still dark at night, Shad lost the track of time a long time ago. Maybe it was the sudden urge to speed up the pace, but the route back to the assigned point came out to be shorter than Shad expected. They came out from the desert and arrived at Lake Hylia, crossed the North Hyrule Field fast with no sidetracks, and now they were exiting the Bridge of Eldin and crossing the middle of the vast Eldin Province field. Some kilometers more and they would be safe.

A shriek sounded somewhere near him. Still holding Epona's reels, Shad looked around but saw nothing and no one near, except his comrade Auru galloping beside the caravan, and he didn't seem to have heard anything. Shad attributed the strange sound to a mild delusion due to his weariness and the cold weather in the Field.

But again the shriek sounded, closer this time, and Shad rose his eyes to the sky as a Helmaroc flied over his head. Shad covered his head with one hand as the Helmaroc flied away and circled back to the caravan. There were at least a dozen of them. When Shad looked back to the sky, a whole flock of Helmarocs was circling the area, and was approaching to them.

Three Helmarocs descended to the caravan and began pecking the wagon's roof fabric that protected Rusl, Ashei, and Link.

"Ugh…" Ashei's groaned from inside the caravan. "What's happening?"

"Helmarocs up high!" Shad shouted back as Epone neighed at the presence of the savage intruders and sped up the run even more.

"Auru…! Came Rusl's voice, as one of the Helmaroc began ripping a hole on the roof, threatening the safety of the party inside.

Bow and arrow in hand, Auru fired to the Helmaroc, hitting him right in the neck and making it retreat. The other Helmarocs spotted the warrior as the fallen Helmaroc was left behind, and directed their attack to their new menace. Auru fired another arrow, but because of the constant movement of his horse's gallops, a surely deadly hit caught one Helmaroc in one of its wings. Although the shot did slow down its flight a little, seconds later it flied up high again, apparently not affected by the arrow.

The flock approached dangerously near Auru as the race to reach the village continued, and began to peck him. The struggle against the monsters made him to drop the bow in the field, and the momentary distraction made him defenseless against the attacks. The shrieks were almost deafening and made his ears to vibrate painfully.

As the Helmarocs flied up high again to prepare their next attack, Auru managed to unsheathe his sword and held it tightly in his hand. This time he was going to take the offensive attack. With renewed speed, the flock descended toward the warrior and his horse once again, ready to dispatch him, but was received by the slashes and swings of Auru's sword. Now the only shrieks were of those Helmarocs being killed by him. Black blood oozed from the mortal cuts inflicted by Auru. As they advanced toward the Gorge, a trail of unrecognizable limbs was left behind by the Hylian warrior.

"I think we are clear now…" Rusl heard Auru's voice from outside the caravan, almost without breath due to the battle. Rusl let escape a sigh of relief as he realized they had just escaped another sidetrack sent by Ganondorf.

He looked back at Ashei, then at Link, who was still out. Then, almost at a speed of light, an arrow struck the wooden place just at Ashei's side. Not only it was an arrow, but a fire-up arrow, and the fire began to expand through the wood. Ashei tried to extinguish the small flames with her hands to avoid more damage to the already weakened wagon. As the fire was extinguished, another arrow flied and cut through the wagon again. The arrow flied so close to Rusl that tore a piece of fabric out of his clothes' sleeve, and opened a small gash on his shoulder. He held his shoulder at the feeling of the painful tingle. Luckily just a little blood oozed from the wound; maybe it was just superficial. But where do the arrows came from?

Rusl noted that there were more galloping sounds in addition to Epona and Auru's horse's galloping. When he looked back through one of the caravan holes, he spotted the source of the sound and the flying arrows; a whole pack of Bullbos was now approaching fast with pairs of Bulblins on their backs, firing arrows to them.

"Bullbos are coming fast behind us!" Rusl said specific to no one, more to try to ease some of his desperation.

"Shad! How far?" Ashei shouted to the rider in the front of the wagon. He just only hoped they where near the village. The group was practically defenseless, they could not endure another attack.

"We are halfway there!" Shad answered him, evident desperation in his voice.

He looked back. The Bulblins had reached them. Some of them were side by side to the wagon. He couldn't see it but could hear Auru's groans as he battled the nearest creatures. But the pack was big; there were as much Bulblins as the Helmarocs earlier. Rusl knew the Bulblins were stronger than the Helmarocs, and with the aid of those beasts, the possibilities of reaching Kakariko alive were becoming slim. The monsters, but more Ganondorf, really wanted them dead. Not only them, but also wanted Link dead.

Rusl looked again through a hole at the side of the wagon. The Bulblins and Bullbos stood running side by side to the caravan. Their bows and fiery arrows equipped, they were ready to fire once more…

Suddenly, one of the running Bullbos disappeared from Rusl's sight, as if an illusion trick was performed before his eyes. Rusl frowned. Then a second one seemed to also disappear in the middle of the chase, also taking the Bulblins with it.

"Rusl, look." Ashei said, somehow amazed, as she pointed to the hole at the back to the caravan. Rusl turned, and saw that a new pack on familiar creatures was approaching even faster toward them.

_The Gorons._

The flock of rolling Gorons stomped over the now outnumbered monsters, throwing them out of the track and neutralizing them with their powerful punches. One by one, the pack of creatures was reduced to a pile of motionless bodies scattered throughout the field. Several Gorons reached the caravan and lowered their paced, and escorted the caravan until it reached Kakariko Village North gate, where a pair of Gorons were guarding it. The pair of Gorons signaled the rider to come forward through the gate.

It was a risky mission, no doubt about it, but they did it. Against all odds, the Hylian warriors managed to bring the missing hero to Kakariko Village.

* * *

A mess, a complete mess. That was one of the things came to Ganondorf mind as he walked between the debris and unrecognizable body parts scattered throughout the place. His perfect spot, his new hideout was no longer a secret to the world beyond the desert borders. The first time was a reduced number of Hylian humans and Gorons; now that everyone would surely know about his reappearance, the next time would surely be the whole Hylian army along with Gorons, Zoras and who know which other allies.

That weakling Purlo messed it up in great part. Even after his execution, was able to carry out his exposing message. With that, the intruders were, not only able to neutralize his minions, but also to find Link and take him away. After all, entering his dream and seducing him with some golden rupies was not enough. Or maybe he wasn't the indicated person. But it was too late for analyzing that.

At the end, he got what he wanted; the Hero. And even if his friends were able to rescue him, the possibilities that he would be the same as before were almost zero. His strongest minions did as he ordered; to break him slowly, to make him suffer to the point of delirium; all this without killing him. Killing him quickly would have been so boring; he wanted to make him pay the hardest way for his fall, retrieving from his hands what by right and destiny was his. His malice had made Link weak and defenseless, and his weakness was his source of strength.

Ganondorf turned and his favorite minions were coming out from the Grounds. Dark Nuts, King Bulblin and armored Dynalfos made his way out of the main complex and stood in front of their master under the morning sunlight. Ganondorf chuckled; the very best of his collection had to be stored for the final part.

A hoarse shriek pierced the silence of the place. Ganondorf looked up at the sky and spotted a flying Helmaroc coming down at the group. The Helmaroc flied past the Dark Man and descended to King Bulblin's side. The beast stood on the bigger monster's forearm. It cawed softly watching the big Bulblin intently, as if talking to him. Ganondorf watched the Helmaroc's appearance; its wings were torn on different places, and some cuts covered its body, some of them were bleeding dark fluids. It seemed like it had some nasty confrontations with another creatures.

_Or against certain Hylian warriors…_

The image of those damned Hylians almost made him spit. He returned his attention to the apparent conversation the Helmaroc and King Bulblin were having. The conversation suddenly stopped, and the Bulblin grinned. Ganondorf watched them intently, waiting for a translation.

He and the King fixed their eyes.

"So?"

King Bulblin slimed. "Kakariko."

Ganondorf smiled back. After all, he also had his sources. "We attack at dusk."

With that said, the army raised their voiced in a barbaric cry of war, raising and agitating their weapons in the air. It was time to take out some hindrances from the way, his way.

* * *

A/N: Here is another chapter. As always, I hope you like it. And as always, leave me your comments about it. Thank you :D


	14. Struggle and Comfort

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Zelda franchise. Please, don't waste your time suing me._

_

* * *

_

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 14: Struggle and Comfort**_

For the one hundredth time in the night, Uli shifted position in her bed, maybe more since she didn't really count them. The place felt somewhat hot, the air felt foggy, and half empty. She wasn't sleepy and the least she wanted to do was to laid down and let her mind go blank for a few hours. With so much going on through her mind – worry, scare, anxiety – it was impossible.

Giving up to her insomnia, she stepped up from the bed she was supposed to share with her husband, Rusl. He parted in the afternoon along with his friends and a "considerate" number of Gorons. He told her they received some "rumors" from an anonymous source saying that Link was in some part of the desert, but didn't know anything else. That's why he believed that the only way to find out what happen was entering into the desert. He hugged her before leaving, telling her that he and the rest – along with Link - would come back as soon as possible; she was a fool to think that they would return that same night.

Uli thought that a good intake of fresh air would boost her mood up. Silently, she exited her room, walked down the wooden stairs and exited the inn. It was still dark outside, lanterns lit the dirt path at some spots, and some Gorons were still roaming the place, guarding the village. If the tension present in the air wasn't there, it would have been a peaceful night, just like any other.

She sighted and stared blankly at the sky, thinking about Rusl, the convoy, and Link. It wasn't fair; after all the ordeals Link had endured at his young age, he deserved some quality time of peace at his home. She would always be in debt with him after he risked his life to save her child, Colin, and the other kids; she would never forget the stories of how he allied with the Princess to battle against the tyranny of an outsider. And at that moment, to think that the farm boy she and her husband loved almost like their own son was missing in an unsafe place made her feel depressed. She looked at the stars-filled sky and wished for Rusl to find something - anything – that could lead to Link's whereabouts.

"Are you alright?" Renado's voice startled Uli, he was approaching her from the sanctuary at the other side of the dirt path. He seemed worried. "You look tense tonight."

"I can't sleep," Uli replied as she managed a trembling smile to him. "I thought the air outside would sheer me up a little, but it seems that I need more than just air."

"You need them," Renado said. "The physical absence of loved ones empties some places inside you. Yet their spiritual presence can bring comfort in a way."

Uli smiled at the shaman's wise words. "Yes, I need them. I need my husband to find Link. I need them both to return and to be safe, and to go back to Ordon Village together."

"You're full of hope, Uli. The gods will surely listen to your prayers. They had favored us before, and in times like this, there will be no doubt they will do it again." he assured her with confidence. He was right, the gods and goddesses had shown them their good will for the people that needed it the most. This time should be no exception.

Agitation, movement and voices suddenly filled the night at the village. The Gorons there began to move toward the village's north entrance. Two rolling Gorons appeared at the entrance and halted by other Gorons there.

"The group is on their way to the way to the village," One Goron said with a loud voice. Uli's heart filled with a mix of happiness and grief. The Goron said they were coming. But she just heard half of the news. She expected more, the essential part.

_Is Link with them?_

As if the Goron heard her thought, he continued. "They are bringing the Hero with them."

Her eyes widened with joy, and both she and Renado look at each other. She couldn't hide her smile. Rusl was able to localized Link, and not only that, they were coming back. The gods just answered her prayers.

She stood at the same spot, watching the village entrance intently. One minute. Two minutes passed. But no one was coming. She chewed her lower lip and bit her growing desperation. Another second with no one showing up and she would surely scream.

Finally someone showed up; another group of Gorons. She sighed heavily, trembling. Her nerves were getting the best of her. Seconds after the Gorons' arrival, a cart entered the village, along with a rider on his horse. She saw Shad, Epona pulling the wagon, Auru was the rider.

_They arrived!_ Uli's smile couldn't get bigger in her face. The mission had been successful and they were back. The cart and the horse stopped, Shad dismounted the cart and Auru his ride. Then both of them half ran to the other side of the damaged cart. Shad helped the young girl to come out; Ashei. Then Rusl came out.

"Oh," her voice came out like a whisper. She couldn't resist standing there any longer; she walked to the group of warriors. He wanted to hug his husband and welcome back Link herself. She wanted to be close to them when Link finally comes out of the cart. She walked as she saw Rusl half entering to the wagon again, extending his arms inside. As he came out again, he carried a fallen man she didn't recognize in his arms. She halted when she did recognize the mark on the man's limp hand.

Her smile faded slowly, turning his expression to one of disbelief. Her jaw dropped open as she couldn't give credit to what her eyes were seeing. No one else step out from the cart by his feet. The fallen person who Rusl carried in his arms was Link. His head hung limply over her husband's arm, his body was wrapped in a blanket, and his hair was matted with blood and dirt. Link… carried away… _No…_

Renado, who was behind her, ran past Uli and toward the group. He stood in front of Rusl, and touched Link forehead. "Get him inside the sanctuary," Renado ordered. Rusl hurried to the sanctuary, Uli followed them. The rest stood outside.

Renado held the door open as Rusl entered with his burden. He directed him to a corner were a bed was made. The young Luda watched as Rusl then place Link on the bed. "Luda, I'll need your help here. Bring some fresh water from the spring." Renado ordered his daughter. She obeyed immediately.

Rusl placed Link on the bed. Yet he couldn't leave his side immediately. His breathing was more labored than when they left the desert, his body was shaking violently. He reached to touch his face; it looked cold but felt feverish. "Link?" He asked. He was tossing and turning weakly. He wasn't responding.

"Luda and I will take care of him," Renado said, placing a hand on Rusl's shoulder. He looked to the shaman, then to the door as Luda entered the place with a bucket of water in her hands. She approached quickly to the bed's side and placed the bucket on a nearby table. Another hand grabbed his arm, he looked back, and Uli stood by his side.

"We must let them work, dear." Uli said to her husband. "They'll know what to do." He looked back at Link's form, somehow refusing to leave. "Please Rusl, let's go outside…" she plead, her voice soft but clearly cracking, while pulling his husband gently by his arm. Acceding to her request, Rusl turned and exited the sanctuary with Uli at his side. He and his friends brought back Link; his job was done.

Once outside, Uli turned to see Rusl; his face was dirty and he looked tired. He fixed her eyes in hers, her emotions so mixed up that he couldn't read it. Instinctively, they fussed into a hug. He held her delicate body in his arms, he felt her soft sobs against his chest. "Oh, you're back… you're both back…" she managed to say. He kept himself silent, not for caution, but because he didn't know what to say.

Uli frowned as her hand felt something warm on his shoulder. She retired it and saw that it was wet with blood. She then turned to see his shoulder and saw the cut with coagulated blood in it. She gasped. "Rusl, you're injured!"

"It's nothing. Really, it doesn't hurt that much." He eased her while he touched the wound.

"Come on, let me patch you up." Uli said to him. Rusl couldn't help but to listen to her. She was extremely caring, not to mention how to tread an injured of this kind. Anyway, the whole trail back to safety left him sore and tired. He couldn't do anything more for Link; he was being attended by Renado and Luda. Keeping him alive was out of his hands now.

He looked to the sky, the morning sun coming out from behind the mountains. He sighed "Okay. Let's go inside." He finally said. And so, they walked to their room at the village inn.

* * *

He tried, once more, to open his eyes, tried to fight through the fatigue, tried to lift his heavy, gummy eyelids. His face felt strange, numb and swollen.

"Link?"

He couldn't focus, could only make out shifting shapes and the intense light near him. His head was thumping painfully, relentlessly, and he allowed his eyes to close against the disorientation.

"Stay with us, Link."

Voices again, but that wasn't Rusl. He shivered when he felt cool air brushing over his naked chest and legs. He felt cold, but his inner organs were in fire. He felt movement, hands poking his body where it hurt most. He groaned in protest. His mouth felt extremely dry, and he tried to work saliva to his mouth, but the only thing he could taste was salt and blood. He was so thirsty.

"Water…" His plead came out as a whisper he couldn't even hear himself. The persons who were near him surely didn't listen to him.

A hand slid behind his head and tilted it up a little. Hopefully, it missed his wound in the back of his head. He tasted clean water in his tongue. They heard him.

"Drink slowly," a girl's voice.

_Ilia?_

No, it wasn't Ilia's voice. She sounded to be quite young. He drank it slowly, tasting it, and moistening his mouth. Then it was removed and his head was laid flat again. Bewildered by the kindness, the forced his eyes open. He only glimpsed a dark cloud over him. He blinked, and his mental cloud dissipated a little. This time he saw two figures above him, watching him intently. He blinked again and his vision cleared more, and he could distinguish two faces there, though he didn't recognized them yet.

_Rusl? Where is Rusl?_

A cool washcloth touched his forehead wound, and pain jolted it. He winced, and he felt his body waking up, feelings returning to his system. Touch returned to his limps, and so his agony. He began to hyperventilate, his blood rushed through his veins, felt sweat beads forming in his face.

"Shh, calm down. You're safe now," The girl's voice again. Hands held his head steady.

"Easy, Link. Take it easy or you'll worsen your injuries."

He opened his eyes again, the person still blurry to his eyes. He blinked, breathed, and fixed his eyes on him, or her, or whoever that was there. This time he could recognized the long and slightly wrinkled face of Renado. But, why him?

"Where…?" His voice cracked. He gulped, found his breath. "Where am I…?

"You are in Kakariko. Your friends brought you here." Renado said to him. "They are safe, too." Shivering, he turned his head to see a teen girl at his side, placing a washcloth on his forehead. That must be Luda.

A second later, Link felt his stomach spasm painfully. He gagged and retched, but he was weak and exhausted and his body lacked the energy it needed to throw up properly. Coughing and choking, he fell back, struggling against it.

"Father..!"

Renado moved quickly, turning Link onto his side and clearing his mouth, checking his airways. Caring hands held the youth gently while he was sick. Link coughed, and a little blood was spewed.

When Renado was sure he could breathe again, he turned him on his back again. Tears filled his eyes as Link realized that, although he was in safe territory, his struggle and his agony were far from over.

"Pull it… out…" Link said. Renado frowned. "Please… pull it… out…" the last word came out as an exhausted sigh.

"Father, his shoulder…"

"Yes, Luda. I see it." Renado replied to his daughter's observation. He knew what Link was referring to. He saw the dart that was incrusted deep into the shoulder's skin. It was infected, dark veins reflected through the dark purple skin around it. Renado positioned himself on the bed's head, and held Link steady against the bed by his arms. "Luda, listen to what you are about to do. You will grab the dart firmly with your fingers and pull it out with all your strength. It may not come out at first, but the next time it will be easier. It is not that hard."

Luda looked at his father a little frightened. "It will cause him pain."

"Nothing can stop that. It will cause him more pain if it is not removed soon."

Link tilted his head up and addressed to the girl. "Go… You can do it…" He assured the young nurse, and let his head fell back. He deep breathed and shut his eyes, ready to whatever that may come.

Luda breathed, full of confidence. There was no reason to be afraid. She grabbed the wooden dart with her fingers. He looked at her father; he nodded, signing her to start, Then, she looked Link; his eyes tightly shut. She fixed her eyes to the dart, her grip tight, and she began to pull.

Link groaned, jerked, clenching his teeth. His father held him to keep him from his instinctive movements while he tried to free himself from the pain it produced. Luda felt her inner self winced at Link's protest, but she didn't stopped. She continued pulling, her fingers were getting sore and the dart wasn't giving. She released it as her fingers hurt.

"It's okay, Luda. Rest your fingers a few seconds, and then resume." His father encouraged her. She agitated her fingers until the biggest soreness left. She grabbed the dart once more and pulled it again. Link groaned and tossed once more. But this time the dart was giving, slowly, but it was finally moving. Luda almost smiled. "You are doing good, Luda. Keep it up…"

She concentrated her strength into her hand, not paying attention to the soreness that was coming back to her hand and fingers.

"It's almost…"

With a big pull, the dart finally gave, and came out swiftly. Link let out a loud, painful scream when the strange object left his body, the excruciating pain made him arched and tense his spine. Renado released his grip from the young man's arms. His body relaxed slowly as the paralyzing current in his body subsided in intensity. He laid on the bed, moaning, his eyes fluttering into unconsciousness, working furiously to drag air inside him. Fluids and some blood escaped from the hole left by the dart. The extraction let Link drained out and exhausted.

"Calm down, Link, it's over." Renado soothed the half conscious youth while he swept the damp hair from Link's face. He then placed a cool washcloth on his forehead. Luda stared incredulously at the dart in her hands, and put it on a plate on a table. It was a dart, bit it had the thickness and the diameter of an arrow. No wonder why it hurt so much.

"Now Luda, bring some bandages, herbs and needles. This, as well as the other wounds must be cleaned." The Shaman ordered, and Luda retired to find the needed stuff. Renado prayed silently, pleading to the gods to give Link the strength he need to come out of this situation. He would need it.

* * *

Rusl remained sit on the bed while Uli bandaged his shoulder. He was so tired that he thought would fall asleep at any second. He remained silent all the time his wife treated him. He avoided talking about the whole ordeal; the missions, the battle against the monsters, the strange figure that aided him in the desert… He didn't wanted to worry Uli with the fact that the monsters were somewhere in Hyrule and that the return of Ganondorf was almost a fact. Uli seemed to respect his silence, though she didn't force him to talk or started any conversation. He was grateful for that.

With a tight knot, Uli finished bandaging his shoulder. Rusl moved his arm; didn't hurt at all and he could just move it just fine. "Thank you, Uli." He then laid on the bed, dozing off.

"Yes, you better rest. You look tired" Uli said.

"Long day." Rusl replied.

"It surely was. The others looked exhausted to."

He opened his eyes, and Uli was watching him, sitting beside him on the bed. She was smiling at him, grateful to have him by her side again. He loved her so much. And gods, she looked so beautiful. He smiled. "I'm fine, trust me."

"I trust you."

His smile faded and closed his eyes. "It's Link I'm worried about." He said, dozing off rapidly.

"Me too."

"You go with him."

"I will."

"Go now. He needs you more. Trust me, I'm okay."

Uli thought about it for a moment. "Alright, I'll go." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Be a good guy while I'm out."

"I'm always good." He managed to say before falling deeply asleep.

* * *

Uli stood in front of the sanctuary's door. She raised her hand to open it, but stopped at midway; was it wise to enter the sanctuary right now? What if she disturbs Renado while tending Link? Rusl told her - almost plead her – to be near Link. Maybe she must wait until later, or after Renado himself came out from the sanctuary with some news. But she couldn't deny that she urged to see him. Not thinking anymore, she entered.

She closed the door after her quickly, and turned. In a corner of the place, she spotted Renado with his back on her, his daughter Luda was opposite to him, and Link was facedown on the bed. His head was positioned to the side, looking away from the door. Uli walked tentatively toward Renado and his patient, and stopped when Renado turned his head slowly, with no expression in his face. Although she knew him quite well, his gaze scared her and gave shivers through her spine; she shouldn't be there, interrupting Renado's operation on Link.

"You can come forth, Uli." Renado finally broke the silence. "Your presence may do some good to Link."

She sighted in relieve and walk toward him. As she approached and Link's form came to her sight, her heart shrunk she saw the tremendous wounds that covered his back almost entirely. They looked like cuts, deep and raw. The rest of his body's skin looked paler when compared with the red skin from his back. She watched as Renado was sewing up one wound. A bloody needle stitched close the wounds as the young Luda cleaned the blood that leaked from it with a cloth.

Uli felt a lump of her throat. Why him? Which demented mind did that to him? What he did to endure such atrocities? She turned around the bed and hurried to Link's side. She crouched beside him until her face met his face, flat against a thin pillow. He was bandaged around his forehead. His arms were close on each side. His eyes were closed, air was exhaled out by his partly open, chapped lips. A tear escaped her eyes; this was not the youth that herded Fado's goats at Ordon's Farm, the young man full of life that her son Colin admired so much. He looked so weak, so barely there…

She breathed and calmed herself a little before saying anything. If Link could hear her, she didn't want him to notice her cracking voice. "Link…" she said softly, watching his young, bruised face intently. His face didn't show that she listened to her. No reactions. He wasn't there. "Link?" she said again, her voice clearer this time. Maybe he could hear her.

His eyes moved under his eyelids, and slowly, his eyes fluttered open. Uli's eyes widened, and smiled when she saw that Link heard her and was waking up. He blinked a few times before fixing his eyes to the face that stood before him. "Uli…" Link said, his voice reflecting his weakness.

Another tear rolled down through Uli's cheek, but her smile widened even more. "Hi, Link. I'm here with you." Link winced a little as Renado still cleaning and healing the wounds on his back. The tingling pain was inevitable, but necessary.

Link gulped and spoke again. "Rusl…the others…"

"Yes, Link, they are okay. Rusl and the others, they are all safe." Uli replied softly.

"Good…" he exhaled. Uli took his closest hand to her – his marked hand - into hers and rubbed its back, comforting him silently in one of his darkest hours. She noted his breathing was still labored. "Uli…?" he called her name again.

"Yes, Link? What is it?" Uli responded, stroking his damp hair with one hand while holding Link's hand with her other hand. It took some energy to do it, but he managed to move his fingers and close them around Uli's hand. She felt the movement in her hand, and compensated his effort by squeezing his hand gently.

"Don't… go yet…" He whispered. He licked his lips and gulped. "Stay…"

The words he barely managed to say half-broke her heart. He couldn't deny that he needed some close to him, that he needed someone to comfort him. And she couldn't deny it to him; her motherly heart couldn't leave him, not now. She stroked his face tenderly. "No, I won't go anywhere. I'll stay here, right beside you." She assured him.

Link's weakness didn't let him to speak anymore. Instead, he watched Uli's soft, caring eyes for long seconds, until his face contorted as the healing needle sunk into his skin again by Renado. Uli frightened when he groaned. Tears came out from his eyes, and hers.

_He's suffering so much…_

"Sshh, it's okay. It's okay, Link. Calm down…" she soothed him, while she kept stroking his face and hair and while holding his hand. Seconds later, the groaning stopped and his eyes remained closed against the pain. She looked to her side when Luda placed a chair beside her; she forgot she was crouched beside the bed. When she stood up, her legs crumbled and she stumbled. But Luda's hands were fast and held her still until she found her balance again and sit on the chair.

"Thank you," Uli said to the girl. She smiled shyly and took her place at Renado's side as the young nurse, aiding both his father and Link.

_May the gods bless her heart._

She moved close to Link again, holding his hand again and touching tentatively his forehead's bandage. He passed out, but she didn't care. Rusl was with her, Link was back, everything was okay… The gods had been too good to her in the last hours, and she had never been so hopeful in her life.

* * *

For the last few hours, Ganondorf remained sat in his throne, tapping his fingers against the throne arms. He didn't want to watch the morning sun coming out that morning, or to visit the Mirror Chamber, or to walk outside the complex just to see burnt skeletons and debris. He just wanted the sun to hide again, and to kill them.

_Kill them. Kill them. Kill them all!_

He was getting impatient, but he had to wait. He wanted them to think that they were out of danger and that they were safe. At that time, when the tension and defenses were down, he would attack. But for that, he had to wait, at least until the sun is down again.

Meanwhile, he would pass the time fantasizing; imagining how he would find the Hero again – correction: the fallen Hero – and torn his soul inside out of him and break it into pieces without mercy. Just as he should had done the first time he was on his grasp. He won't fail again.

* * *

_A/N: My longest chapter so far. This story is coming to an end really soon, no more than three or four chapters remain. As usual, I cannot guarantee the frequency of updates, but they will be uploaded sooner or later. I promise._

_As always, leave your reviews and/or comments. They are greatly appreciated :)  
_


	15. The Courage Within

_Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo, not me._

_A/N: This is my longest chapter to date. You may find it a bit confusing because a LOT of things happen in this chapter, maybe that's why it came out to be so long. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it :)_

_

* * *

_

**_Rise_**

**_Chapter 15: The Courage Within_**

After falling asleep for some unknown time, Rusl laid awaken on his bed at the inn room, feeling groggy and not wanting to move at all. He stared blankly at the wooden ceiling above him, thinking in the events he and his friend lived mere hours ago, trying to understand. There was no doubt that Ganondorf was behind all because of the minions he encountered at the ancient prison, and for the sketch that the anonymous source delivered to him. Still, Ganondorf hadn't shown his face yet, not even when he and his friends attacked Arbiter's Grounds. Despite that, his anonymity didn't surprise him at all; he was used to do that before striking.

He sighed and kept revisiting his recent memories. If things weren't uncanny enough at the time, it reached the peak when the mysterious golden figure hit them on their way to escape the place. It appeared just at the right moment and place, and saved them from being torn apart by the monsters; as if she was watching them and came down from the sky to aid them. He frowned at the memory of the savior apparition.

_A big column of light struck in the middle of the circle…_

…_a slender, female body…_

…_they were protected by both the fire dome and the air bubble inside it…_

Could it be possible?

_Din?_

Too much thoughts made his feel a little dizzy, so he shook them out of his head. Gaining his strength, he stood up from his bed and headed outside his room. He walked down the wooden stair slowly and heavily, noting the emptiness at the inn's lobby; he supposed the rest of the guests – Auru, Shad, and Ashei – were still in their rooms, resting.

He exited the inn and welcomed the midday sun on his face. _Midday?_ Gods, he really overslept. The sun rays were hot and intense on both his body and on the already dry village. He looked to one side – toward the north gate – everything appeared to be calm at the time. He then looked to the other – toward the spring – and his sight turned when Renado walked out from the sanctuary, drying his hands off with a tower. If it was midday and the town Shaman just walked out from the sanctuary, was Link in such bad condition that the operation on him lasted from almost dawn to midday? Rusl didn't hesitate to walk toward him and ask the inevitable.

Rusl approached him with hurried steps. "Renado?"

"Oh, Rusl. You're awake." Renado said, half smiling, half serious.

"How is Link?" Rusl asked the Shaman without even listening to what he said.

Renado kept drying his hands off. "I cleaned his wounds, and closed the deep ones. My daughter and I did all we could to stabilize him, or at least to put him out of danger." He replied seriously. "The punishment against him was savage, to say the least."

"He will make it, I know it."

"Now, it's up to him. The will to heal and stay alive lies within him." Renado said. "You can see him. Your wife is with him right now."

Rusl sighted half relaxed and half with inner tremors. He was right; they all did what they could to safe a life, but in the end it was Link who has to heal inside. "Thank you," He smiled to Renado, and he lowered his head in small reverence. Then Rusl walked past his side and headed to the sanctuary.

"He is back, isn't he?" Renado's voice halted him when he was about to open the sanctuary's door. He didn't turn, neither did Rusl. "The one who wreck havoc in the name of darkness."

He didn't know if confirming Renado's assumption was the best thing to do. Although there were strong evidence that Ganondorf is the mastermind of all that was happening, he couldn't confirm what he wasn't sure of, either. He turned his head a little and looked at Renado over his shoulder. "Whether this menace is the legendary evil or not, we must be prepared for anything." With that said, he entered the sanctuary.

Inside the sanctuary, Rusl spotted Uli on a far side of the place, sitting on a chair, her back toward him, and Link laid on a bed in front of her. He almost tiptoed all the way to his wife; he didn't want to startle her or to wake up Link. When he approached them, Uli was tapping Link's face gently with a washcloth. He put his hand on her shoulder and Uli raised her eyes to meet his. He then observed Link; he was sleeping, bandages covered his forehead, one shoulder and most of his chest, and a thick blanked covered him up to his stomach. He still looked pale, and some healing scratches were still visible from his arms. The sight of him was hard to process in his mind, but to watch him in the deplorable conditions in which he found him in the prison, the healing scene was a hundred times more viable.

Uli tapped Link's neck with the cool washcloth, and Link let out a little groan and stirred a little. Rusl didn't contain his curiosity; he reached out and put his hand on Link's cheek forehead. It was hot. Not much, but Link was definitely still running a fever.

"He looks so weak," Rusl thought aloud, merely a whisper and not intending to receive a reply.

"But yet, he is strong inside," Uli said softly. "There still courage somewhere in his being. He just need to find it."

Even when Link's battle was not over yet, her optimism made him smile to her shyly. He glanced at Link again, this time at the Triforce crest in his back hand. The mark on the skin remained dark and tainted with dark spots. He hoped that at least a small glint would shine out from the mark. That would have been the sign that the goddesses that chose him to defend the land where still by his side, but the light wasn't there, not at the prison, and not at that moment.

Link stirred his head again in the pillow, showing no intentions of waking up anytime soon. He wondered if he was dreaming; dreaming of high, green pastures and child games, of if his mind was trapped in that nightmarish complex and being tortured again. Either way, he couldn't do much, just watch and wait, wait for Link to find the strength within and to hold on to life. Only time will tell.

_He will make it…_

* * *

Raw materials, cords, flammable powders, mechanisms… Experimenting with all those ingredients was never the best part when developing new exploding devices. The whole procedures and tests sometimes left him frustrated, tired, and always dirty with black particles all over his clothes and his body underneath them. It seemed that his career as a bomb developer already reached its peak when he invented the walking bomblings. In the last weeks he was dedicated to adjust the bomblings mechanism to re-create the small bombchus that were spoken of in the ancient legends of Hyrule. But the inspiration he needed to work on it hadn't arrived yet.

Done for that day, Barnes stumbled out from his shop-home, coughing and reaching fresh air outside, a dark cloud of gun powder escaping through the door. "Oh smokes, what a mess!" He said absently, letting his frustrations to come out from him. "Definitively, that procedure wasn't the best."

He walked sown the shop's steps and walked down the dirt path, making his way to the south of the village with a wooden bucket in his hand. "I know that to make one big invention, ten failures come first. But this is surely failure number twenty-three… No, disaster number twenty-three! I hope tomorrow would be the day. Yes, tomorrow it will be. Hahaha! Bombchus, I'm not done with you yet!"

Barnes kept mumbling to himself and fantasizing all the way to the spring, passing by the group of three persons, some Gorons and the Patriarch himself that stood talking near the reconstructed inn. After a hard day of work, taking a bath should soothe and relax him.

The breeze blew softly over the village, and the night was approaching rapidly. Some clouds were covering the village darkening sky. If he didn't hurry, he would bathe himself with cold water. About ten meters before arriving at the spring, he saw a weird movement in the air, right at the spring site. Barnes blinked to assure it was not his imagination, but it was there. A swirl of dust was forming in the middle of the air. At first, he thought of a tornado, but discarded the possibility when the swirl stood there, suspended and floating in the same spot.

He felt hypnotized by it, and his eyes widened when the swirl grew rapidly in shape and diameter, turning into a turning circle in front of him. Seconds later, the swirling circled began to take some color, like blue, or purple. They were mixing together, the movement make him somehow dizzy, but the kept looking at it anyway. Could that be a portal? He'd never seen a portal before, but there was no explanation of the phenomenon before him.

"Wow… Magic."

The rest of Kakariko's inhabitants noticed that something was going on at the spring, so a small group united around the apparent portal, including the Hylian guesses at the inn. The group mumbled at each other, asking to themselves what that floating circle was and why it appeared there. Barnes knelt and took a rock from the ground, took some steps back from the portal and threw it to the portal. Everybody kept silent as the rock landed on the other side, passing through the floating circle as if it wasn't even there. Later, the two Ordonians came out of the sanctuary.

"What's happen-?" Rusl trailed when he spotted the gathered group and a portal near the spring.

"Why- a portal?" he asked to himself.

"It seems so. But something is wrong…" The nearby Hylian, Auru, said to him.

Rusl needed to know more. "Uli, stay here." He said to her, still at the sanctuary's closed doors. He then moved near the bomb shop owner. He observed the portal, which emanated some strange glow from it. It looked like someone could actually walk inside it and get lost in there. "Indeed, this is a portal."

Barnes chuckled nervously. "Ha! A portal? If that is a portal, it is not working! Didn't you see when I threw the rock? It landed on the other side. Nothing happened." He then stood straight and caught up a sudden air of courage and confidence. "I'll walk through it and you'll all see this thing is lame magic from a lame magician." He declared triumphantly to the group.

"I-I wouldn't do that if I was you…" Shad said to the bomb shop owner from far behind him.

"Ah, you just stay there and see…" Barnes began to walk toward the portal with confidence.

"No, Barnes, don't…"

He was about to step inside the portal when a lightning struck the short man. It came out from inside the portal, and struck him with so much power that his body was hauled and thrown along the village dirt path about twenty meters away. The people and the Gorons startled, and watched with horror at Barnes' inert and smoky body in the distance. He looked dead.

When a Goron approached Barnes form to aid him, Rusl turned his eyes back to the portal. Indeed, something was wrong. This time, he could feel it getting closer to him.

_This can't be happening. Not now._

* * *

"Link."

A strange sound calling his name joined the absent hum in his ears and penetrated the darkness once more. He lay with his eyes closed, realizing that he didn't feel as tired as he previously felt, but his head felt heavy; head, arms, lips, even his toes felt like anvils attached to his feet. He was warm and comfortable and… awake.

"Wake up."

The female voice called again. Slowly, he opened his eyes and gradually allowed them to focus on his surroundings. He was lying on a bed, in a room dimly lit by some candles in the walls. At last, his sight was clear and without blur. He gave another look to the room, but no one was near him. He attributed the voice to his still cloudy mind, and he let himself to fall asleep again.

"It's time to rise."

_Shut up…_

"He's coming."

He didn't want to listen, but it was impossible to ignore since the voice wasn't coming from outside, but from within. It sounded like whispers to his hears; half muted words carried away by the blowing wind. The words soothed him, but intruded his healing calmness. And intruders were not welcomed, not even inside his mind.

"Wake up, Link."

_Leave me._

"They need you."

_Who are you?!_

The question silenced his surroundings. He sighted. He could finally resume his sleep.

"I am…"

Not again.

"…one of the Three."

Link's eyes snapped open, and he sat up on the bed, ignoring the dull pain on his chest and back. He glanced at his surroundings, breathing heavily and not sure what he was looking for.

"Your destiny was written by us."

Link wrenched his head to the side toward the direction the stranger's voice. But all he saw was plain walls and burning candles. He was alone.

He gripped his head with one hand and touched the bandaged forehead, and passed it through his hair. He was losing his mind, there was no other explanation. No. The voice didn't belong to any of the goddesses; none of them never spoken to him before… not even Farore. It must be another being; a Poe, a lost spirit on the loose.

Or even Ganondorf.

He laid again in the bed and shut his eyes, attempting to catch some sleep again. Luckily, the whispering stopped, and he managed to sleep, to let his aching body to rest and recover. His shoulder wound pounded at unison with his heartbeat, and breathing still hurt him a little. He needed to heal and rest. It was the least he deserved.

* * *

Everyone stepped away from the portal, now it was emanating lightning from inside, the same lightning bolts that struck and almost cook Barnes alive a minute ago. Suddenly, a flock of black Guays appeared from the portal and flied toward the humans and Gorons group, and began to attack them with their beaks, shrieking. Some of them crouched and covered their heads with their arms; others agitated their hands furiously to the air to scare them away.

Rusl had never seen so many Guays together attacking. He covered his head and glanced at the portal. It was still there, unmoved and unchanged… until a second group came out of it. This time, a grotesque pack of Dynalfos and Bulblins came out, followed by an enormous fat monster behind them. It has cut-off horns in his head, a crooked, evil smile, and the double axe in his grip was almost as big as him.

_A big Bulblin…_

As soon as they appeared, they began to attacked; human or Goron, anything that stood on their wait. Their gruesome shrieks filled the thick air and mixed with the groans and screams from the villagers.

"Defend the village! Attack!" Rusl shouted to the air, and took out his sword from its sheath, and began to fight the army. He swung the sword to times, and a pair or Bulblins fell to the ground. He then turned and stabbed another in its belly. He watched his surroundings; all he could see was a fierce battle taking place in the middle of Kakariko Village. He could see his friends fighting with their weapons against the armored Bulblins, and the Gorons were also battling the Dynalfos and the remaining Guays in the air.

He began to worry when more monsters kept coming out from the portal. More Dynalfos were coming out and joining the battle. At that point, the creatures began to obtain the advantage. He could see that some Gorons were being neutralized by the intruding army, some of them receiving slashes from them and then they hit the ground, wounded. The battle continued. At that moment, he remembered something.

_Uli._

He glanced to the sanctuary site, and Uli was still there, crouched, covering her head with her arms, fear and horror drawn in her face. Terrified, he glanced at the portal again, and a trio of Knight were making their way out from the portal and joining the fight. They carried swords in one and a metal shield in the other, not to mention they were armored up to their teeth; not even their faces were visible through their helmets One of them noticed the woman against the building's wall, and began to walk toward her.

"Uli!" Rusl shouted to her. Hopefully, she heard him, and saw him far away through the enraging battle, scared. "Get inside the sanctuary, now!"

She watched him, as if wanting to shout back with her eyes. She didn't hesitate to his words; she shook out his shock a little and headed inside the building. Luckily, a Goron hit the menacing Knight on his back and trailed his attention. The Knight didn't flinched; he turned quickly and hit him back with his shield. The Goron fell a meter away from him, almost knocked out. Rusl couldn't believe his eyes; that thing knocked out a mighty Goron with a single blow… Those knights were strong!

He fought against the Dynalfos attacking him, and with much work and strength, he was able to kill and neutralize most of them. But the view told him another story; there were more monsters on his feet than Gorons. The intruders were winning. His human friends were still on their feet, battling.

"Rusl!" Someone shouted. Rusl moved his head toward the voice direction. It came from Auru, who just stabbed a Dynalfos and pulled the sword out of the falling corpse. He turned to Rusl, and signaled something behind him with his finger, wide eyed. Rusl turned, and noticed that another creature appeared from the portal. It was clearly a man, a tall man, red hair, armored in black, a sinister aura emanated from him and reflected in his serious face.

That must be him. The evil being from the ancient legends lived again.

_Ganondorf._

* * *

_Under the shadows created by a group of high trees, Link drew his bow and aimed. He positioned the makeshift arrow, tensed the string and held it while fixing his eyes to the target almost fifteen meters away. He held his breath, took a last look toward him, secured the target, and shot…_

"_Great shot!"_

"_Amazing! Right into the center."_

"_So Link, ready for another trip?"_

_No… Link said, or thought he said that, he didn't felt his lips moved to speak. He felt depressed, down, frustrated. He wasn't ready for nothing. _

"_You know what I always tell you before you go… Take care of yourself, and of Epona, too."_

_He heard Ilia's voice, her sweet and friendly voice, reminding him to be careful and to watch over his beloved horse, as usual. He failed, miserably. _

"_Good bye, Link!! Bring us a souvenir!"_

_He couldn't content his emotions anymore. He let his tears to escape from his eyes, and wept silently, relieved that no one was there to see him cry. Now his treasured memories were his mental torture._

"_Your friends… they are your golden source."_

_That voice again. It didn't leave at all._

"_I never leave."_

_He startled. It seemed it could read his thoughts, too._

"_We are always there."_

"_No, you are not!" Link snapped out of the blue. It was his time to speak. "You abandoned me…"_

_He stopped when his voice cracked. He could feel those hellish creatures drowning him again; he felt the hard wooden club hitting him and breaking his bones; he felt the whip tearing his skin off his body, his life dripping down to a puddle of blood, his own blood. He saw himself rotting, cold and sick, in that forsaken prison. He clenched his fists tightly, loathing those memories._

"_And then?" She spoke again. Was she making fun of him? What did that question mean?  
_

_And then… they rescue him. Rusl, Ashei, their – my – friends… They rescue me. But…_

"_They need you know."_

_He got lost now. He didn't understand where she was going with all this. He was getting tired of her riddles. He sobbed again, and clenched his fists even more._ "_What do you want? Please, tell me what do you want…?" he almost begged to the darkness, to the invisible goddesses hidden somewhere in his mind._

_Images began to form before him. A village was drawn in the forming clouds; it was Kakariko Village. Then, moving figures appeared throughout the village; some Hylians, a lot of Gorons, and a bigger number of monsters. They all were enraged in a battle. He felt himself dismay; the village was being attacked._

_He frowned when he recognized one of the fighting Hylians; Ashei. She was fighting a Dynalfos. They exchanged swings and hits from their swords, producing sparks when their weapons collided. But suddenly, a hit made her fall backwards on the ground, losing the grip of her weapon. Without mercy, the Dynalfos sunk its sword in the middle of her chest. She choked a scream, and blood came out of her mouth. She didn't move again. It killed Ashei._

_Link watched all of it, shocked. Then he saw another human battling – Rusl – against an armored man, which Link recognized as Ganondorf himself._

"_No, Rusl. Get away from him!" He watched as Ganondorf lifted him effortlessly from the floor by his neck. He tried to break free, but he took his sword and stabbed him in his middle, the sword coming out from his back. He fell limp instantly. Ganondorf smiled and tossed Link's mentor away. Dead._

"_Stop! What is this?" Link almost screamed. Was this real? Was it happening now? Why them? _

"_If they are against you, then they are against the rest of the world, too…"_

_A short silence. Then, his face slacked.  
_

"…_and against Us."_

"_They saved me," Link said absently. How could he be so selfish? He let his pain to take all what was left of his sanity and made him forget his friends' sacrifices to return him home. They were all involved now and were also part of Ganondorf's target, along with him. "Now, they need me…" He breathed, feeling his lost courage return to his being. "I have to help them."_

_At that moment the images of the carnage at the village dissolved into a green mist, and left the void black again. Then the voices spoke once last time._

"_Go, Hero. This time, We will be with you, by your side."_

Link opened his eyes slowly and calmly, breathing softly. He eased his fists when he felt that he was grabbing the blankets in them. He remained still for a moment, staring blankly at the ceiling. Fe felt no ache, with no pain at all, calm and serene, and that scared him a little.

He sat up in the bed, his legs spread under the blankets, remembering what he just saw. That battle, the village, and everyone there… If it was a dream or some sort of a premonition, he wasn't sure. All those images stirred in his mind totally disorganized.

He rubbed his eyes with his hands, and winced when a sudden brilliance struck his closed eyes. Frowning, he retired his hands from his face to find the nearby light source. He was surprised when he noticed that the light source came from his own hand, his left backhand. He watched it intently; he surely had seen his mark on his hand glow before, but this time was different. The whole emblem was glowing; Power, Courage, and Wisdom were shining as never before in bright, clear shades of red, green and blue respectively. The three essences were present there.

"_Your destiny was written by us."_

"…_We will be with you, by your side."_

His hints of scare in his gut transformed into utter amazement. His mark was a message, the reminder that They were, indeed, with him.

He instinctively looked at the bed and frowned again. A sword laid on the bed, near his feet. He didn't remember seen it before the first time he woke up and sat on the bed. Maybe someone put it there, close to him, it couldn't just appeared there out of nowhere.

Or maybe it could.

Link watched it there for a second, and then his mark. Farore's soft voice echoed in his ears.

"_If they are against you, they are against the rest of the world, too… and against Us."_

He understood. There was a maniac running loose through the land, his land. The maniac that masterminded his kidnapping and ordered his minions to torture him, now was after his friends, his family. He could not let them suffer the same atrocities by the hand of Ganondorf. The Goddesses were right; if he was against the people he cared, he was against him, too, and must be vanished.

He leaned forward and grabbed the sword. He had some things to take care of.

* * *

As soon as Rusl ordered her to go inside the sanctuary, Uli entered the place and secured the door with a thick, metal tube. But after locking the door, she stood there, petrified, not daring to move. She had never been so scared in her life. That invasion, the battle outside, it all happened so fast that her mind took some time to register the events. And to think his husband was out there fighting those hideous creatures made her heart pound painfully against her chest.

Now she was inside, safe for the moment. But what if they break into the place? She wasn't a fighter and she had no weapon to defend herself. She must hide somewhere, and then she remembered there was another who must be safe at all cost.

_Link. I have to hide him._

Still leaned against the door, she turned and ran blindly where Link should be lying. She stopped halfway. The bed was empty, the blankets were thrown away, and Link was not there.

"Link?" she called. No one answered. He was gone.

* * *

Rusl stood in the spot hypnotized by the vile and serious expression in Ganondorf's face. He looked somehow angry and determined to accomplish whatever his primary goal was. Ganondorf stopped walking and looked around the village, clearly searching for something in particular… or someone. He turned his head, looking around and thought the enraged battle, until his eyes fixed on the wooden building at his side. Rusl saw him smiled, almost heard him chuckling in the distance. He turned and headed to the sanctuary's closed door.

_No. Uli's inside. And so is Link…_

"Rusl! Don't let him go inside!" A woman's voice – probably Ashei's – shouted. He must stop him, or he was going to kill both Uli and Link once inside. Rusl snapped out from his stupor and made his way toward Ganondorf. He swung his sword, slashing and pushing everyone and everything in his way. When he was a few meters away from him, Ganondorf turned around, facing him directly. Face to face, or by stabbing him on his back, Rusl wouldn't let him go inside. He ran, barely two meters separated him from the dark man before him. He raised his sword to air, ready to kill him.

Ganondorf raised his gloved hand before him, as if signaling someone in front of him to stop. Rusl did stop at the evil man's sign, involuntarily. He halted abruptly his face merely some centimeter away from Ganondorf's hand; his movements froze inexplicably, his falling sword caught in midair, his feet restrained in half a step, barely touching the ground. He couldn't move his legs, or his arms, nothing but his head. He jerked, tried to move and break the invisible chains that were holding him in place.

"Dark… magic…" Rusl managed to say between clenched teeth, fighting to break free. Ganondorf bend his neck to the side to see the face of the man he halted. The little warrior looked angry, but at the same time he looked frustrated; his pathetic efforts to move were in vain.

How he wanted to break his neck, take his heart out and drink his blood. But this wasn't the man he was looking for. The little man before him was just a living waste of his precious time, and a worthless sidetrack trying to protect the Hero. He would be dead sooner or later anyway. But why so angry? Was it really someone beneath this door? He would soon know.

With a slight wave of his hand, Ganondorf sent Rusl flying away from him. He landed meters away on his back, pain filled his nerves as the dirt and rocks scraped his skin. He groaned, his body slacken, but couldn't move right away. He only managed to raise his head forward to take a look. He turned around and faced the sanctuary's door once more. _No…_ He couldn't stop him now, Ganondorf was going to find them. It was the end; his beloved wife and disciple, murdered by the purest evil ever existing.

Half resigning and half resisting, he breathed a quick prayer to the sky, hoping it would be answered in time.

_Please gods, protect them…_

_

* * *

_

_A/N: The end is near..._

_Leave your comments and/or flames, and you may know what will happen next... *evil laughs*_


	16. New Found Power

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything Zelda-related stuff (characters, places, names...)_

_A/N: This chapter is the longest of all in the story, and as in the previous chapter, a lot of things take place here. I hope you readers don't get confused by the order of events (which I tried to write down as smooth and ordered as possible) or by my lame grammar (now that's unavoidable). Just bear with me for a little longer._

_And finally, my apologies for leaving you waiting for this update for so long ;)_

* * *

**_Rise_**

**_Chapter 16: New Found Power_**

She felt her blood drain out of her body when she saw that the bed where Link was supposed to be was empty. She glanced around the room, adrenaline and fright flowing through her nerves. He was nowhere to be found. Did he notice the battle outside? Did he run and hide somewhere outside? The thought of it was impossible to imagine since he was still too weak to do so.

She was trembling from head to toe, and her hammering heart jumped when the back door opened abruptly…

_No. I'm trapped. They'll kill me._

…but she sighed in relief when Renado showed up and entered the sanctuary, followed by Luda. He frowned when he saw his patient's bed empty, and the patient nowhere in sight. Uli felt her legs wiggle when she ran toward him. "Uli!"

"Renado, Link's gone! I have to find him!" Uli said almost hysterically.

"What? But, how?" Luda asked.

"I don't know. I just went outside for a moment and then those monsters appeared and then they attack us and oh gods I should have never left his side-"

"Calm down, Uli," Renado halted Uli's compulsive explanation and tried to soothed her. She was crying and trembling, and the least he wanted was letting her crack emotionally. He tried to comfort her. "Link could not go so far in his condition, he must be some-"

Renado stopped when he heard a low knock in the front door. The trio looked at the door at once. A shadow was visible through the corners of the doorframe, and the door began to rumble. Outside, the battle still raged and their sounds and war cries could be heard from inside the sanctuary.

"What are we going to do?" Uli asked.

At that moment, Luda stepped forward and kneeled in the center for the room. She lifted the woolen carpet that covered that section of the floor, revealing a secret wooden door.

"I totally forgot about the cellar." Renado said to himself, half-amazed by his daughter's idea.

"Yes. We can hide here until the battle ceases." Luda explained. The opened the door and entered the secret passage.

"Enter now, Uli," He ordered Uli.

"Wait! What about Link?"

The door rumbled again, harder and louder this time. Renado turned to her again. We cannot wait any longer. We must hide now."

She glanced at the rumbling door. She knew the menace was imminent and once inside, they would perish. But her mind asked – screamed - for Link. She needed to know what happened to Link or where did he go. But she also knew that if she went outside the sanctuary, she would sure end up dead. If she couldn't defend herself even with a weapon – thought she didn't know how to use one, neither could she defend Link from any danger.

"Uli, please, hurry!" Luda's voice snapped her out of her stupor. She didn't hesitate anymore, and entered the cellar. When Luda and Uli were finally in the cellar, Renado entered and closed the small door on the floor after him.

* * *

The sand, the air, even the inert wooden buildings trembled as Ganondorf made his way through them. He had sworn to himself over and over again that no one would stand on his way. The wooden door before him would not be the exception; it rumbled just because his nearby presence. _Brilliant._ Right after he sent that pathetic to fly somewhere out of his sight, he stood in front of the building's door. He knew that someone was hiding inside; the presence was like a fragrance to his nostrils.

With a glint from his perverse eyes, the door exploded, its wooden chunks flying all over the building's floor and lifting dust at the same time. Ganondorf made his way inside through the dust. After most of the cloud dissipated, he took a look around the place. The place was so simple, so trashy, and so empty that nothing was worthy of his attention.

He walked through the place and looked around once more. His impatience was starting to affect his mood, until he spotted a bed in the distance. It - as well as the whole place - was empty, but he hurried anyway to the far wall where the bed was. He stood in front of it and watched it. It was messy, the thick blankets thrown to the side. He touched the bed; it was still warm. Someone was there until fairly recently.

He continued to pass his hand through the bed until he reached the pillow, in which some dark dots where plastered. He touched with a finger, took it to his nose, and smelt it. The faint but unmistakable scent of the fallen Hero's blood filled his brain like a drug. He was there. _Was_ there. Actually, he was anywhere but there.

He groaned, frustrated, angrier that ever. In his rage, he grabbed the bed and tossed it away. He was so sure there was someone was hiding in that place. But still, some kind of presence was there. He glanced around the place once more; the high ceiling, the bare walls, the floor…

_The floor._

He approached to the hatchway that stuck out from the hard floor, asking to himself how he could miss such an evident detail. He crouched beside it and watched it. He frowned, curious, but chuckled to himself a second later. He had just found the source of his uneasiness. It wasn't the Hero's, but to some other fearsome human rats that didn't deserve to live anymore.

He was tempted to open it, to surprise them and terminate them at the moment, but he had something better in mind. Instead, he stood up, and glanced and one of the candles placed on the walls. It didn't take much of his energy and desire; the little candle flame sparkled, and the light sparks stick to the wall. In an instant the flames enveloped the wall, scorching it and extending throughout the place. He then concentrated in the next candle, and did the same; more flames engulfed the walls of the shack. The rest of the candles exploded, the fire was already consuming the place, and the heavy suffocating smoke started to fill the place.

After igniting the fire, Ganondorf turned around, laughing, and went outside the shack, letting the flames to do his own binding.

* * *

Rusl opened his eyes, his head spinning and his back aching. He noticed that he was on the ground, and that heavy movement was constant around them. His sword was still on his hand, and he remembered that the battle was still on. His brain fought his dizziness while he stood up, but didn't fight back the fresh memories of the past encounter.

_Ganondorf entering the sanctuary…_

"_Don't let him go inside!"_

_Rusl running toward the dark man… Ganondorf raising his gloved hand before him… Rusl flying away from him… Ganondorf entering the sanctuary…_

_The sanctuary…_

_Uli. Link. Inside._

Rusl waved his pain away and stood up quickly when the memory of his love and his pupil came to his mind. Through the battle, he searched for the sanctuary with his eyes, his sense of direction was as foggy as his thoughts. When he spotted it, Ganondorf was nowhere near the shack. Instead, he saw flames, flames that were consuming the place from the inside or the place.

"No!" he shouted absently, and ran to the sanctuary, making his way through the battlefield and not caring to fight the monster army there. His priorities had changed for the moment. "Uli!" he screamed as she approached the fire. Maybe she could hear him. He halted at the entrance of the shack as the flames inside prevented him to enter. He wanted to enter; he tried to watch inside for some sign, any sign of Uli or Link, but the fire had already taken over the sanctuary.

He was desperate, frantic, scared to death. He couldn't leave it like this with at least trying. He took a deep breath, and decided to pass through the rising fire. He must save them at all cost, even if the attempt could cost his life. He took some steps back to gather some momentum and enter the sanctuary in fire. He breathed once more, looked forward, and ran.

But the momentum was cut short when someone tackled him and dropped him to the ground. He landed on his side, bewildered, away from the flaming entrance. _No!_ He was losing time, and whoever who prevent him from entering didn't know the urgency of his act.

"Rusl! What are you doing? Were you going to commit suicide?" As Rusl stood up, he recognized the voice as Shad's. And indeed, he was the one who tackled him.

"I need to go inside!" Rusl said, but didn't care if he listened or not. He turned and ran again to the sanctuary, but Shad grabbed him by the arm and turned him, face him.

"What! What are you talking about?"

"They are inside the sanctuary! Link and Uli are inside! I have to get them!" Rusl's heart was racing, and his hysteria was reflecting in his voice. Shad stared at him incredulously, as if trying to understand what he just said. Shad was still grabbing him by both his arms, but mind seemed to be somewhere else. His mind wasn't.

Rusl groaned in frustration. He tried to shake his arm free from Shad, but he held him firmly. "No, wait! Listen to me!" The young scholar begged Rusl while tightening his grip. "There's another way to enter there."

"What?!" Rusl said.

"Go to the graveyard. There is a dry well that leads to the sanctuary's cellar." Shad said quickly, the statement leaving him almost out of breath. Rusl stared at him, frowning. "Trust me, I've been there before. If they were fast enough to avoid the fire, they should be there."

Rusl doubted for a second, but it gave him a glint of hope. "I hope you're right."

With that, he turned to the back of the flaming sanctuary and headed to the graveyard, leaving the battle behind.

* * *

As he exited the burning sanctuary, Ganondorf stared blankly to the front, to the village's entrance gate through the fighting scene, thinking of his next step. Those villagers were not as dumb as they first imagined. They surely hid the Hero somewhere in the village; maybe in some underground cave, or in the basement of a house. But it would take time to search every stinky corner of that dirty village, and his limited patience reserves were running low rapidly. He must find a rapid way to find him. He would grab one of those humans or a fallen Goron and force them to talk to else; he would have no problem in using one of his techniques. He considered it for a second, until…

He walked to the nearby spring, where a bunch of glowing fairies flied throughout the calm, clear water. He stared further, at the white cloud over the small waterfall, floating in the same place. The cloud attracted him like a magnet, not for its beauty, but because he knew what the entity disguised as sparkling mist was.

What it really was.

"Hello, Eldin" Ganondorf said, his boots splashing the shallow waters of the pond. As he advanced deeper into it, the fairies there repelled to the impure intruder that was disrupting the peace there. Ganondorf stopped in the middle of the pond, the water reaching the dark man's calves. "The guardian spirit, no? You see everything that happens here."

The cloud didn't respond in any way.

"You know why I'm here," he continued. "And I want it now." He paused and continued, his anger beginning to show up. "Give me the Hero, and I shall leave the place."

The mist was unchanged, unmoved by Ganondorf's order. Even spirits were such stubborn beings.

His threats weren't working well; it was time to try something else.

The sorcerer concentrated all his strength, and a dark aura began to flow from his body; from the core of his black soul through every pore of his skin. The swirling mist embraced it from head to toe, leaving red, bright eyes visible through his own mist. He was not going to be outsmarted by this spirit. He was above every spirit in every way, even beyond the gods.

"Where is the Hero, uncaring spirit?" Ganondorf shouted enraged by his anger and impotence to move Eldin. "Tell me, or your end will be worst than the vilest punishment the twilight veil could have done to you and your world in the past! Tell me now!"

The mist, Eldin, stayed there, in the same spot, deaf to the maniac's orders.

Moved by the lack of response from Eldin, Ganondorf raised his left hand, and concentrated a large orb of energy around his closed fist. The dark orb kept growing until it was as large as his head; he wanted the spirit to taste all of his power for ignoring his orders.

"Meet your destiny, spirit," he said, smiling uncannily to Eldin. "Let this be a warning to your gods". After saying his final words to Eldin, he was ready to destroy it.

* * *

Rusl looked around the ghostly place that compounded the graveyard. The place looked practically abandoned, lighted only by two torches near the farthest rock wall on front of him; the grass was tall and grew randomly throughout the ground, and just a pair of trees stood tall in a cliff beyond. The stone graves were covered with mud and chipping off due to the passing time. Even so, he felt peace emanating through the earth, as the place was still undisrupted with the battle at the other side of the village.

He searched the place as he walked through the grass and graves, looking for the so-called well somewhere. _I will kill, you Shad. I swear I will if I don't find that well… _He thought as he couldn't see what Shad guaranteed that was at the graveyard.

He kept walking turning and searching, until he spotted it an isolated spot of the graveyard, as if it didn't want to be part of the dead community in the graveyard's center mount. He hurried to the well, and removed the metal panels that partly covered the opening. He leaned over the stone hole and looked inside. Even when the moon above provided him with some light, it was dark inside and Rusl barely make out the bottom… or anyone there.

"Hey," Rusl shouted to the well, his voice echoing back and bouncing back to his ears. It was that silence that ignited his worst fears again. "Uli! Somebody!" He called again. The sound bounced back in distant echoes. Rusl felt his blood run cold through his veins; no one was there, they were still in the main house. He let them burn. He felt his voice cracking. "Please…"

"Rusl?"

The echo snapped him out of his premature mourn. He leaned over again. "Is someone there?"

Seconds passed. No answering voices, no one in sight. His adrenaline-filled mind was tricking him.

Seconds later, a figure stepped into view.

"Is that you, Rusl?" Uli said, looking up. A huge wave of relief crashed over him. She was alive. A second later, Renado and Luda also stepped out into view. Their eyes widened in awe when they saw the familiar face leaned over the well.

"Are you okay?" Rusl asked.

"Yes, we are. We are safe from the flames and the battle here." Renado said to him while hugging Luda protectively.

"You surely are," he said. He looked down at them again, and the half smile drawn in his face. One face was missing from the group that where hiding there. One person…

"Where's Link?"

"He is not here," Uli said. "He was gone before they set the place on fire."

He didn't know how to react to the news. Link was not with them. Was he captured again? Or did he go into hiding by himself? And how did he know that the village was under attack if he had been unconscious most of the time? Considering his condition and the engaged battle in the other side of the village, if he ran away from danger, he couldn't had gone too far from there, or even out of the village; he didn't have a chance. So, his analysis leaves him with another inconclusive question.

"Then where could he be?"

* * *

With a heavy swing of her sword, Ashei dispatched another armored Dynalfos. After that, she started to feel tired, her arms and legs felt a little heavy and was getting hard to maintain balance in battle. She took a quick and deep breath in hopes it would diminish the weariness at some degree. She glanced at the battle, which was not the best view. Rusl was getting heavily to his feet after he was thrown to the floor by Ganondorf, and Auru had his hands full battling a pack of Dynalfos. But still, they – and the Gorons there - kept fighting, defending the place and themselves at all cost.

Ashei turned her head to see that another Dynalfos was coming for her, shrieking and ready to attack. Despite her slight fatigue, she reacted quickly and blocked the strike with her sword. She pushed the nasty lizard away and stood up, the Dynalfos approaching to her again. They were engaged in battle, their swords colliding against each other in a mutual attempt to neutralize the other. She fought with all her strength, but the Dynalfos was as skilled and passionate in the ways of the sword as she was. It was difficult to find it a weakness so she could take the offensive and stop swinging her sword just to defend herself.

Ashei blocked another strike, but the Dynalfos turned around and swung its long tail through the ground, catching her feet and making her fall on her tailbone on the ground and losing the grip on her sword. She shook the pain away quickly and turned her head, searching for her sword; even on the ground, she needed her weapon, badly.

When she finally spotted it, it was barely a meter away from her. Still on the ground, she extended her arm to reach it. But a hard hit in her chest forced her to fall down once more. She laid on her back, crouching her chest with her arms; the unseen blow almost left her breathless, in addition that it hurt bad. While trying to catch her breath, a green and scaled foot held her on the ground. New pressure was applied to her, making it harder to breathe and enhancing the pain in her chest. She reached desperately for her sword, stretching her arm to its maximum length, but although her weapon was laying a few centimeters away from her fingertips, she couldn't reach it.

"No," she gritted her teeth as the Dynalfos kept her flat on her back. Discarding the thought of her sword, she rounded the creature's ankle with both hands and tried to get it away from her, or at least to lower the pressure on her. The lizard shrieked on her face, drops of foul saliva falling on her cheek; and the shrieking sound so deafening that made her flinch under its feet. Touching him surely made it angry.

Ashei saw from the ground as the Dynalfos straighten and raised the sword in his hands, the sharp edge pointing at her from above. A frightening chill ran through her body and her limbs paralyzed in the moment of terror. She had faced death before, and succeeded in escaping from its grasp in a number of times. But at that moment, she knew death had come for her, and she saw no chance to escape.

Not containing herself, she covered her face with her arms and screamed, waiting for the enemy's weapon to fall upon her and kill her.

But the moment she awaited with such fright didn't come.

Instead, just when she retired her covering hands from her face, The Dynalfos' body gave a little spasm, and its fierce gaze changed into one of frowning and curiosity. A split second later, a sword came out from its throat, soaked on dark green fluid. The monster seemed to be frozen in place as a grim mannequin. He groaned, gargled, and both his sword and shield fell from his hands to the ground at the same time that the blade piercing his neck was pulled back.

Ashei was confused. Definitely someone hit him from behind, but from her angle and posture she couldn't see. The monster crashed down to her side, immobilized, dead. When she looked up, her confused gaze changed into one of amazement. As the creature fell, the invisible hero – her savior – was uncovered from behind the corpse.

_Link?!_

She looked at Link standing in from of her by his own feet, his eyes bright and alive, his face was cool and full of determination, and holding the drooling, sharp sword in his hand. His forehead was bandaged, as well as half of his chest. Ashei had to blink twice to make sure that this man was indeed the one that she and her friends rescue in the Gerudo Mesa.

_How could…? But…_

"Behind you!" Ashei's speed-racing thoughts were interrupted when she spotted a Dynalfos running toward Link's back.

Link, with an uncanny calmness, slightly turned his head to look at the approaching intruder over his shoulder. Ashei watched as the Dynalfos approached dangerously to Link, while he just stood there, as if he was waiting for the creature to strike him, to kill him. Did he want the creature to kill him? What was he thinking?

_Link, have you lost your mind? Do something! Now!_

It seemed that he heard her desperate thoughts; just as she thought the Dynalfos would cut Link in half, the young man fully turned around, and swiftly swung his sword. The lizard stopped abruptly as his armor was split in two, and dark blood was sprayed out from the body and smeared the dirt. Then Link kicked him directly in the armored mid-body with a bare foot, and the creature fell back, hitting the ground and lifting a cloud of dust to the air.

Link turned again, stared at Ashei intently, and extended his hand to the girl. "Sorry Ashei, but break-time is over," He said to her, almost smiling and without a hint of weariness in his being. Ashei stared back at him, astonished by easy could control the situation, as if nothing was too much complicated. As if he was used to it.

And that was good.

He was back. The old, nice Link was back.

Ashei smiled as she gave him her hand. He grabbed it firmly and pulled her to her feet. "Are you alright?" Link asked the girl.

"Nothing I can't bear," she said as she shook off the dust from her clothes. "Thank you."

The shaky smiles on their face were disrupted by loud and heavy steps approaching them, followed by soft growls. They turned their heads to the direction of the sound. About twenty meters away, a green, big creature stepped into sight from the battle. It was not its size or its horns that almost made Ashei to dismay and to feel intimidated. The fat monster had a double axe as bid as its own body. Both edges looked quite sharp.

It was not time to retreat; that word had never been on her dictionary. But she couldn't hide her reality with her situation. Judging for its size and its equally enormous weapon, her possibilities to defeat him were slim.

_Slim, but not zero._

Filling her mind with determination and hiding her melting nerves, she grabbed her sword and held it firmly. She was going to make her first step forward, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She turned and saw Link's hand on her. He walked forward and stood in front of Ashei, his face as serious and determined as when he first made the save. He stood there for long seconds, not moving, just staring at the monster ahead. The monster did the same, stare at him, chucking. It seemed so mysterious; like if they have seen –or knew- each other. Or…

"Link."

"Ashei, go help the others." Link said to her, not turning to her. His voice was somehow dark and low. "I'll take care of this… thing, myself."

* * *

After all the turmoil and challenges he had to pass and endure to give his homeland a little bit of new hope and peace, he had never felt the urge and the passion to fight an enemy with every ounce of his being. He ignored what made him feel that weird yet familiar tingle; the Goddesses' power, or his scars longing to be healed… he didn't care. The only thought his mind could organize was that his futures actions – and what he is about to do – would be reign by his emotions and instincts within, by his very own soul.

Link remained unmoved for an undetermined amount of time. He stared to the grinning monster in the distance with cold, determined eyes. He observed almost every inch of the King of Bulblins; his horned head, the green and chubby face, the double axe in his grasp, his favorite weapon. He was no different to what he already knew about him.

"King Bulblin," he whispered to himself, savoring and loathing the name at the same time.

King Bulblin's grin disappeared and contorted into an angry gesture when the unmoving boy in the distance moved his lips. His prey was practically in front of him, waiting to be sliced in two. Or maybe in three. This time, he would be sure to end his game dispose of him, the game he started with the Hero some days ago.

…_sweet, bloody game._

The monster tightened his axe grip and raised it to the air with both hands. He wanted to fight. He was ready.

"AAAARRRGGGG!" was King Bulblin's cry of war, and after that, he ran, heavily but fast and with firm steps, toward the Hero.

Link watched the Bulblin run toward him, serene and still like a statue. His attention drawn directly to the front and ignoring the rest of the battle around him. He smiled at his situation, a wicked smirk that mirrored his newly acquired courage. The courage that was torn away from him by the evil ones was back and fully embraced by him.

"King Bulblin…"

The monster ran toward him. Link gripped his sword and ran toward him preparing himself for the imminent collision between the two fighters.

_Fight..._

His memories, those memories he wanted to bury deep in a graveyard, fueled his body as he rapidly approached. His bare feet ignored the tiny rocks and pebbles under them as he stepped on them. They were coming closer. The King was ready to swing the axe in his hands and attack him. It was now or never.

_Attack!!!_

"AAAHHH!!" Link screamed as he jumped toward the monster, the swinging axe missing his stomach barely a few centimeters, but managing to cut part of Link's chest bandage. In the air, Link raised his sword, swung it down, and let the gravity and the other nature forces to do their job over him.

_Who's playing now?_

A fraction of a second later, three hits were inflicted against the monster, at least he was sure of that much. He felt when the steel in his hand penetrated the thick armor King Bulblin was wearing, but nothing more. The hits would have been in vain if he didn't manage to hit the flesh.

Link reached the dirt floor a second after the damage was apparently inflicted damage. He landed with one hand and knee touching the ground, the sword in his other hand by his side. He stood up and turned his head quickly over his shoulder, prepared for another attack by the monster. He saw King Bulblin standing about five meters away, his back to him and his axe still in his big hand.

He fully turned around, his senses alert and awake. But his tension was released a little when he gave his full attention to his attacker. The monster dropped his axe, the green body wiggled and staggered to remain standing. But in the end, he lost his battle against his own balance and fell backwards to the ground, lifting a dust cloud upon falling.

Link approached fast but cautiously to the fallen creature. As he came closer to the monster, he could see that a faint spray of dark substance was coming out from somewhere between his neck and chest. That was the proof that his blade went through the armor and reached his body.

He stood by his side and looked down to him. The Bulblin was still alive, gasping painfully for air, choking with his own blood in his mouth that came from the corner of his mouth. His eyes focused on the young man above him. He was in pain, it was evident. But even in his struggle, the monster chuckled at him, a strangled chuckled that invited to a new duel, although the one on the floor could move a finger.

"King Bulblin," Link said to him and almost smiled at King Bulblin's boldness. He was lost; one of Ganondorf's most powerful minions, his body and mind torturer, was lost and dying. He lost his own game.

_King Bulblin…_

Link raised his sword over him with both hands, its tip pointing down at the monsters chest, the Triforce crest in his hand shining. He would not be a menace to anyone, anymore, not even to him.

"King Nothing…" Link stabbed King Bulblin right in the center his chest, surely piercing heart. King Bulblin gargled, refusing his fate. He held his sword firmly for a few seconds until he twisted the blade that was still inside the fat body. With that, the monster's body spasm for the last time, and went limp on the dirt. When he was sure that he would not move anymore, he pulled the smeared sword out.

He watched the dead body, blankly. Some people used to say that vengeance was bittersweet, but at that time, and for a lot of reasons, he found it of his liking. He hurt him, and he could have hurt a lot more of people. He did the right thing in eliminating him.

He looked at his surroundings; the battle was on and for the first time since he got up to his feet, the balance weight was changing to his side, the good side. He could see the Gorons fighting and knocking out every mutant lizard that dared to face them. He also spotted some of his friends – Ashei and Auru – fighting back some Bulblins. He felt a rush of hope ran over him as the unfortunate creatures met their blades.

He kept looking, and in the far side of the village stood a tall and caped figure. His was deep inside the spring water, his back to him, looking something that Link could not see in the distance, but that took the man's full attention from the rest of the world. Link took some steps closer to focus his sight better. Then he saw as a heavy mist of unmistakable power ran through his body. He remembered that aura, the aura that was controlled by that man, that sorcerer…

…_dark flood of energy coming out from Ganondorf's hand before he was embrace by a suffocating pressure…_

There he was, the cause of his suffering, the wielder of the darkest magic ever existing in every dimension, the noticeable presence of the unwanted visitor. And his sight made Link's blood to boil inside his veins.

Ganondorf.

* * *

_A/N: As usual, any kind of comments are welcome and greatly appreciated. C'mon, that doesn't take too much time, does it?_


	17. Light Remains

_Disclaimer: Anything Zelda-related is mine. I still own nothing._

_A/N: My apologies for making you wait so much time for a new chapter. This has been one hell of a semester so far; lots of college projects, labs, assignments... It was up until now that I had some time to write down the rest of this story. And the road ahead doesn't look good either. As usual, no matter how much I read and re-read it, there may be some flaws on language and grammar throughout the chapter. But I hope you could understand it just fine._

_And don't worry, this story will be finished not matter how long it takes me to complete it.  
_

_

* * *

_

_**Rise**_

**_Chapter 17: Light Remains_  
**

His image remained fresh in his mind, it was unmistakable, but he spent some seconds to assure himself that he was indeed the man he longed to face. He still had his back to him facing the spring grove, his dark source of energy flowing through his being. His purpose to be there, so hypnotized by the magical mist that resided there, was somewhat unknown. But there was no doubt that his intentions were not good. His intentions are never good.

That distant view was affecting him; thought the night was not hot, he was sweating as if, his body felt hot with anger, his eyes burned with a mix of excitement and fury. He held his breath for some seconds, then released, expecting that to calm down his body's burst of adrenaline. He studied his possibilities; Ganondorf was there, still searching for him yet carelessly unaware of his nearby presence. He had just one change now and he was not going to lose it.

"_Do you know where you are?"_

His grip on the sword tighten at the point that he could feel his nails pressing against his palm and his knuckles almost showed up through the skin. He was breathing like a raging Bullbo but he didn't mind it to control it. It was just his system, his body releasing his fury from inside his mind and his soul. He could hear his heart pumping, the sound echoing inside his ears like war drums playing a warcry. His Triforce crest on his hand glowed brightly: the Goddesses were there with him.

"…_not even the mightiest god could hold me in the void."_

He continued on, ignoring the rest of the battle around him, and his eyes focused on his enemy's back beyond the field. He needed to glance him one last time to assure him that the man there was not a mirage or a trick of his mind. He had enough hallucinations back in the desert prison.

"…_Not even you, Hero."_

He could not wait another second. He ran furiously toward the dark man, his feet ignoring the pebbles in the dirt.

_You won't hurt anybody…_ He hissed between his clenched teeth. His thoughts suddenly invaded the rhythmic pounding in his ears. _You messed with the wrong people_. He ran as fast as his legs could, he was approaching faster.

Link was less than fifteen meters away when he noted that the flowing dark aura that surrounded Ganondorf was not there anymore, or at least he couldn't see it. Then he saw that Ganondorf lowered his left hand and watched intently, somehow frowning at it, his back still toward Link. The expression in Ganondorf's face didn't slowed Link's pace toward him. He was almost there. Ganondorf was going down.

"_Your suffering will feed me."_

Five meters left, and Ganondorf turned his head, apparently to look over his shoulder, to his back.

_Not anymore!!!_

Five more steps, the water under his feet slashed to the sides as he entered the spring pond. And as on cue, Link raised his sword with both hands and with all his strength and passion, he swung it down.

* * *

He tried his best to be polite to the so-called divine spirit floating in front of him. He asked it to give him the Hero, but it would not listen. He then menaced it to destroy both the spirit and the trashy village he lived in. It would still not listen. And then he got tired.

Ganondorf's patience was drained empty. He would teach Eldin to listen and to obey people more powerful that him, or her, or whatever that spirit was. His concentrated his magic on his closed fist. "Meet your destiny, spirit," he said, smiling uncannily to Eldin. "Let this be a warning to your gods". After saying his final words to Eldin, he was ready to destroy it.

But then, something in his gut jumped. A tiny tingle inside him made him a little dizzy and he closed his eyes for a second to regain control of his head. The weird feeling passed rather quickly, but still there was something different in the air that was making him feel uncomfortable in the spot. He felt another shudder, and the air around him became thick and heavy, and he felt like it was compressing him very slowly.

He frowned, and tried to gather more magic power from within, but when he just thought about it, the dark purple mist that engulfed his body resisted his order to come out to give him more strength. His own power was not listening to him.

_What is this…? _He watched astounded as the magic essence began to curl away from his entire body, crawling through his arm and up to his fist. Unable to control his own source, he watched his backhand. The essence compressed itself in the empty middle triangle of his Triforce crest. He watched intently, trying to comprehend, how the now small aura moved nervously in a swirl of thin and pale strays.

Ganondorf forced it to come out, to obey his order, but no magic came out, not a single glint of power. A new kind of anger filled his veins; being unable to control his powers was a sign of weakness, which he was not. He reminded himself who he was, the reason he was born and what was his ultimate goal in this world. There was definitively something around that was making him feel weak and somehow powerless, something invisible but there. There might be one possibility, and that possibility was right in front of him.

He raised his head to see the Eldin mist still floating, still in place. Now he couldn't take it anymore. He may not be able to use his magic now, but in the meantime, he was going to destroy the spirit with his own hands. He tried to move toward the grove, but his feet didn't move or obeyed him, they were stuck under the crystalline water. He tried to move them once, fighting the invisible force that held his legs paralyzed. They did not budge. Just as his magic. He cursed silently at his suddenly reversed change of luck.

He looked at Eldin once more. It stood as shiny and high as before, and he got the deep-to-the-core feeling that this imprisoning power over him was not coming from Eldin. It was coming from someone else, from somewhere else. He gathered his supernatural senses and concentrate harder, trying to find the source of it. Then, he found it. It was everywhere, it surround it. The feeling of its pure essence sickened, he did not like it at all. It was indeed, everywhere. But at the same time, it was approaching faster toward him. The clean and imposing power was coming for him from… behind him.

_This is impossible. I am Ganondorf!_ His mind screamed against it all because his pride wouldn't allow him to admit it in a louder voice. And then he remembered. He was not lost, nothing was not lost yet.

_Ah, yes…_ How could he forget something so obvious like that? His angry expression softened a little as a small wave of relieve ran through him. He was not lost after that little moment of desperation. He was Ganondorf, the future King Ganondorf…

…And very man with a destiny as big as his _must_ have a secret card under his sleeve for any desperate moment he may be involved.

He turned his head slowly over his shoulder, looking at his back. The only thing the corner of his eyes caught before disappearing was a man ready to stab his back with a shiny sword.

A man. A sword…

No…

_The Hero._

"You…"

* * *

The adrenaline that rushed through Link's veins made him scream at the top of his longs and throat. The sword didn't felt light or heavy while he held it in the air. He swung it down as hard as he could, he wanted – he had to pierce Ganondorf's body. He had to see his enemy's torn flesh and dark blood to come out of him; the signal of his defeat.

But strangely, he didn't felt anything; he didn't feel his steel penetrating the skin, or his armor, or hitting anything at all. It felt as if his sword just pierced the dense air.

Unfortunately, he felt it first. A second later, he saw.

Link almost dismay when Ganondorf's figure dissolved into a cloud of bats and flying bugs in front of his eyes, just when his sword seemed to reach him in the shoulder. The sword reached the other way clean and without stains; he, indeed, cut off the air, the empty air.

"No," Link's voice almost couldn't leave his mouth in a horrified astonishment. He saw as the flock of bats and bugs flied away disoriented into the high sky. As the flock flied, a hole opened up in the swirling clouds above the place, revealing a glowing portal inside. The bats entered the portal as if they were attracted by a magnetic field. After the last of the bats entered the void, the portal disappeared as suddenly as it came out, and the swirling clouds closed the hole.

_He escaped, he escaped,_ Link's mind repeated over and over again while he stared at the spot in the dark sky where the bluish portal was mere instants ago, trying to convince himself his new reality, the one that in his excitement and anger, didn't expected could happen… _He's gone… again._

His stupor was abruptly cut by the loud sound of metal pieces colliding against each other. At first it sounded like the sound of swords clashing in battle, but changed his mind when he noted that the sounds were coming closer. Then it sounded like steps, metal steps approaching to him. He frowned and turned around to see the source. He blinked and breathed when he realized that the metal steps were from three DarkNuts were walking toward him. They were as heavy-armored as always, a big and round shield in one hand and sword as big as the same armored knights' bodies. Link's primary objective may have escaped, but the battle engaged in Kakariko was far from over yet.

The DarkNuts were approaching to him He tightened the grip of his sword once more and regained control of his emotions. He took a step back in the water that reached his calves now. His blood began boiled again and his determination grew inside him. He knew that fighting against three DarkNuts was hard. He remembered how much stamina and strength cost him to defeat a group of them in the past. But for a moment, he doubted that he could do the same task as swiftly as before. He didn't felt tired or hurt, but he felt confused and somehow disoriented; something inside of him was telling him that the whole ordeal was going to end wrong. Himself included.

He couldn't believe that he questioned his skills in the battlefield. Why was he getting those feelings of insecurity after so many battles and duels? And why was he feeling this way in the middle of a fight? In that moment of confusion he considered running away from there, from the possibility of a fight that he was not going to win, but he discarded it a second later. Too much people depended on him and on his actions. And running away had never been an option as long as he stood on his own feet and his sword in his hand. At least he would die trying.

_I'll fight you. I'll fight you all._

His eyes remained wide open while watching the DarkNuts getting closer. He took another step back as he prepared for the upcoming battle against the Knights. When they were one step away from entering the pond, a white lightning bolt struck in front of them, making the earth tremble and lifting dust and dirt to the air on the spot. The thunder sound was so loud and the earth shook so violently that every creature involved in the battle stopped fighting and looked around the place, confused. Then, balls of light came down from the dark and now cloudy sky, and began to swirl around the place.

To Link, the floating light spheres looked like a bigger version of the healing fairies that live in the spirit springs. But he had never seen them coming down from the sky. More of the fairy-like things came down to the earth, and he expected them to aid his friends and the Gorons battling there. But instead, they floated directly to the creatures, to Ganondorf's minions. He felt his skin paled and his blood run cold, he couldn't believe what he was seeing; the light spheres were circling around the monsters that came to destroy them and the whole village. How could it be? Fairies aiding the enemy? Those could not be sent by the goddesses, the must have been sent by another being that sympathized with the evil.

_Ganondorf. It must be Ganondorf's magic._

The Bulblins and Dynalfos watched and followed the fairies with their black eyes as they circled around them gracefully, just like the other fairies. But something was wrong; when the last of the lights dissolved in the air after "healing" the monsters, no one moved, they were all shocked and confused. And then a Bulblin shrieked and agitated, as if trying to move. Indeed, he couldn't move; his feet were turning to stone, the transformation going up slowly from its feet and to its waist. It agitated its body furiously, but it was fruitless; the Bulblin remained immobile as the current reaches its chest and agitated arms. Its shrieking stopped as the transformation reached its head and turned the last fiber of its wool hood into solid rock. After the transformation, the once flesh Bulblin looked like a still statue made of rock.

And so, the rest of the monsters began to shriek when they felt their bodies being covered by the cold and hard blanket of rock and dirt. The creatures agitated desperately to avoid being eaten alive by the strange, invisible magic. A Dynalfos swung its sword toward the human in front of him – Auru – in an attempt to delivered one last blow before it too became an insignificant block made of rocks, leaving the human there, untouched and very much alive, and also amazed for what he had just witnessed. After a minute, the whole place remained silent as the monster army was turned into static stones planted all over the field. The other group of humans and Gorons stood there, unharmed and looking around them, trying to understand what just happened.

A Goron, frowning and full of curiosity, stared at the rocky small eyes of the still Bulblin in front of him. To confirm that the monster was not a monster anymore and was just rock, he extended one long index finger to touch the statue. The Goron didn't even reach to touch it when the statue broke apart in pieces, the broken rocks hitting the dirt. First this, and then the rest of the rock statues; each and every one of them broke down into small rocks and dust and crumbled into the ground, leaving a pile of pebbles in their places and at the village's defenders' feet.

Link needed to blink several times to convince himself of what he just saw; the whole army turned into stone pieces. No one remained alive or erected in the place; every monster was destroyed. It was incredible, so hard to believe, but it just happened. When he thought that they were losing the battle against the dark man's minions, help arrived directly from the sky.

_The sky…_ He looked up to the cloudy sky, and looking up, he understood clearly. The light spheres, the big fairies that hovered through the place were not helping the monsters, but the good guys.

The realization made him chuckle soundly; finally, the battle was over. Or at least he thought so until he remembered the DarkNuts. He was so hypnotized by the light and the monsters' transformation that he forgot that the armored monsters were still there. That chuckle made the DarkNuts turn to Link again as they were also intrigued by the events that led to the lesser monsters' defeat. His expression dismayed once more. The DarkNuts were not turned into stone as the others, they were still wearing their armors and swords. Did the fairies' magic affect them? He didn't remember any of them hovering around the big knights in front of him.

_But, why…?_

The DarkNuts resumed their walks toward the human in front of them. Link did not hesitate and held his sword in front of them, he was still with his feet in the water. His friends' battle may be over, but his battle apparently was no over yet.

_Oh goddesses, please don't leave me yet…_

He looked up to the sky again when he caught a glint of light behind the clouds. The DarkNuts were now entering the water pond, and Link backed up another step. But somehow, his eyes were drawn to the lights that were forming in the sky. Then more lights sphere descended from the sky, but this time he noted something different. Only three spheres came down, one green one blue and one red. They moved quite faster than the previous spheres, the looked like comets flying through the field. Suddenly, their speed increased until they reached the DarkNuts. Once they were over them, they began circling the knights. The DarkNuts began to swing and slash their swords trying to stop the annoying light balls that hovered around them. But they moved so quickly that their swords only met air.

Link witnessed, petrified, as the armors that covered the DarkNuts' hollow bodies began to shrink against their own bodies. The crushing metal screeched as they compacted like a paper ball, the shields and swords crumbles as well. The colored fairies continued circling them at great speed until the strong DarkNuts figures were merely three metal balls floating as the fairies hold them in the air. The fairies hovering movements ended suddenly, and the crumbled metal balls fell soundly and heavily to the ground.

The three light spheres floated softly close to each other, and then hovered toward the young man in the spring. They stood a meter away from him and there they stood a long moment.

Link watched the spheres as they hovered in front of him, the sword in his hand. A golden glow emanated from them, pure and soft, like butterfly wings. He looked each one intently from left to right; first the green one, then the red one and finally the blue one. Then soft, female whispers filled his ears. Tender and caring voices made him feel calm and in peace in the cool spring water. He closed his eyes and inhaled fresh air, savoring that feeling, a feeling he hadn't experience in a long time, since he was captured by Ganondorf's minions.

He opened his eyes and looked at the floating light spheres again. He felt so fool when he didn't recognized them at first. He finally did when the Triforce crest in his hand glowed intensely in Their presence.

"You never left me," he said to them, almost like a whispers, but he was sure they heard him just fine. They always hear everything.

* * *

Rusl was helping Uli coming out of the well, after helping out Renado and Luda, She was the last to come out. When Uli was finally in safe ground, she couldn't contain herself in hugging Rusl. She was so afraid to lose him while he was battling back at the village. But when she heard her husband's echoing voice from outside the humid well, a big weight disappeared from her worried mind.

She kept hugging Rusl silently and, to her relief, he hugged her back. They broke their embrace and glanced at each other briefly, they could help but smile tiredly at each other, relieved that both were safe.

The enraging sounds of the battle were interrupted by the sound of thunder beyond the graveyard, startling the group. They all looked to the horizon and to a sky full of clouds, announcing that it will rain sooner or later. Then a huge light disk appeared high in the horizon.

"What is that?" Luda asked as she pointed a finger to the light spot in the sky. Then, what appeared to be small light dots began to fall from it, but could not know where they were falling. They all stared at the strange phenomenon for an unknown amount of time, until the lights stopped falling from the sky and the lights were gone. Everything happened fast, and they were left confused and frowning. The only thing visible in the line of sight was the rising smoke from a still-burning sanctuary.

They kept silent for a while until the young girl spoke again. "Hey, haven't you notice it yet?"

"What?" Rusl said.

"The battle. I can't hear the battle anymore." Luda replied.

They paid attention to any sound that the place could bring, or any other sound his ears could catch. But the only noise they could catch was the sound of the blowing wing around them.

"Luda is right," Renado said to the others. "The noises stopped." He paused for a moment, and then he added, "Is the battle over?"

Rusl was still holding Uli in his embrace. He didn't want to jump on conclusions so fast. It was true, the noises that the battle produced were no longer audible; not the screeching sounds of the monsters or the shouting warcries from the Gorons. It all stopped so sudden. He looked at the sky and wonder if the light cloud had something to do with it. He had experienced some hard–to-believe events that could change the course of a situation completely.

_Like the one in Arbiter's Grounds for instance…_

But yes, maybe the battle was over. But which side won? The good ones? Or Ganondorf's nightmares? The idea of returning to the village and finding their friend and the Gorons dead, hurt and defeated by those hideous monsters terrified him. But in order to find out what happened back there, he had to move forward and prepare for anything.

"Okay, you stay close to each other and don't leave my side." He said to the others while he broke his embrace from Uli. He then unsheathed his sword and turned to them again. "Since it seems that the battle had come to a halt now, we will approach silently to the village again. If I sense any danger, I will tell you and you'll run back here and hide. Understood?"

"Where are we going?" Uli asked, worried.

"We want to know what happened there, no?" Rusl said not only to his wife, but also to Renado and Luda. "There is only one way to find out."

* * *

The Spheres stood there for a minute, watching Their Hero, admiring him and glad that he recognized Them at last. Then They parted to Their home in sky at the speed of light, leaving their golden trace of dust in the air. Link watched Them as They disappear beyond the clouds. Just when they where gone, rain began to fall over the place, washing off the dirt that half covered in his face, and dissipating the flames that were consuming the sanctuary to the ground.

But he felt the raindrops in his skin, he felt somewhat dizzy as pain struck his resented head, and he felt as if he was losing his balance. He glanced to his surrounding; it was still dark at night, the rain was emancipating the fire in the sanctuary, and the Gorons in the field were inspecting the place, helping some injured Gorons. None of them were battling against no one.

It was over. The battle was over.

It was finally over.

_But Ganondorf, he…_

"Link!" He heard his name from somewhere, but in his suddenly foggy mind he couldn't make out the source of it. He couldn't even make out the tone of the voice.

"Link?" Someone called again. He looked around in search of the voice. Instead, the source came into his sight by itself. He blinked his dizziness away from his eyes so he could focus on the figure. It was Shad, and he was walking toward him, being cautious not to step over the rock piles that used to be their attackers.

He kept looking around and could focus a little better. He could spot Auru and Ashei, and they were also walking wearily toward him. He saw some blurry movement to his left, and saw another group of humans coming from behind the sanctuary's burned remains. They were coming closer to him, and then he recognized the blond and mustached man as Rusl. The others along him must be Renado and Luda. And Uli was also with them. Uli… They were safe. They were all safe.

But he didn't feel as good as he wanted to. His head felt light, the dizziness was still there, and his limps were heavy. He felt like suffocating, and he breathed in the much needed air. The smell of wet soil filled his nostrils. Suddenly, he felt as tired and ill as when being held and tortured in the desert prison.

"Link?" He heard his voice again through the rain, this time closer to him, clearer, but he couldn't identify who spoke to him. "Are you alright?"

He began to hyperventilate. All of the sudden, his mind was unable to register all he had been through just days ago, just hours ago…

_Just moments ago._

"I…" That was all he managed to say, his own voice feeling strange in his tongue. A strangled sob left his throat and he released the grip of the sword in his hand, letting it fall from it, letting it sink into the shallow water.

* * *

_A/N: I may understand if you feel that some parts of this chapter were a little hurried. But I hope this one just filled you and excited you just as the rest of the story (considering that action sequences are not my forte)._

_Leave you comments and reviews. They are greatly appreciated_ :)


	18. What Matters Now

_Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. If you sue me, you'll only get my half-empty piggybank._

_A/N: Yay, I'm alive. My apologies for the long wait. College failed; it didn't kill me, so this story is also alive for good. Once again, the story has no beta-reader so if you find any errors, blame my dictionary. Anyway I read it a couple of times to minimize the number or errors as small as possible. And so, here is the next chapter._

* * *

**_Rise_**

**_Chapter 18: What Matters Now_**

As he approached to the village from behind the burnt sanctuary, Rusl knew the battle and the commotion it caused was no more. After all the cries and the metallic sounds of the fighting weapons, the place was uncomfortably quiet. After merely a few hours of battling, his hears got used to the unnatural sounds and rings in his ears. Despite that, he continued walking cautiously with Uli, Renado and Luda behind him just in case some of the creatures were still engaged in battle.

The first thing that came into view was the pond, since it was the closest site to the sanctuary. Just then, a fine rain began to fall over him. It didn't bother him since the falling drops felt refreshing on his bruised skin. The others behind him didn't seem to bother either. Instead they look up and let the rain fall over their faces, welcoming it.

His first impulse when seeing the pond was to go there and submerge himself in the healing waters just to wash away his weariness. But he felt his feet come into a halt when he saw a figure standing in the middle of it, the water reaching the person's calves. He could see through the rain that he was staring blankly to the front. He was wielding a sword in his hand. He looked sickly pale and disoriented. His jaw dropped open at the moment he recognized him.

_Link!_

"Look, that's Link." Uli said from behind while pointing to the pond with her finger.

A huge boulder of grieve left Rusl's being. It was him, standing merely a few meters away, alive. He chuckled and smiled at the same time as the emotions rose up and mixed altogether in his throat. Seeing him there gave him a great feeling of accomplishment. Nothing had been in vain; risking his life to rescue Link, defending the village, fighting the nightmares that menaced to take away his peaceful life.

Link slowly turned his head toward them. His eyes seemed to focus on them, but yet Rusl noted some kind of emptiness in them, in addition of the evident weariness reflected in his young face. Trying to hide his worry, Rusl gave him a little smile to let him know that he was alright. But Link didn't register his gesture. As soon as he looked at them, he turned his head again to look away to nowhere and more disoriented as before.

He moved his head lazily around the place, but he wasn't looking at anything in particular. He heard Shad calling his name as he approached him, but he was unresponsive. Something was not right with him. He was a fool if he expected Link to recover so quickly.

"Stay here," he ordered to the trio behind him. If this new situation would turn out to be another disturbing scenario, he didn't want them to witness all of it, at least not now.

He walked to the pond until the tip of his shoes touched the water. He stood silent for a moment, waiting for both a reaction and to Link to finally notice his proximity. He eyed his comrades – especially to Auru - that were just outside the spring. Auru eyed him back and gave Rusl a slight shook to his head as he raised his shoulders. It was obvious that he didn't know what was happening to him. Since his attempts to reach out to Link seemed to be futile, he was going to try. Maybe his voice would make him snap.

"Link? He said softly while stepping into the water and getting closer to him. Link stood still. His lack of response horrified him. He tried again, louder this time. "Are you alright?"

"I…" Link managed to say with effort, but it was not much louder that a mumble. His face contorted as if he was about to cry. He then released the grip of the sword he was wielding. His strange stillness was interrupted by the sudden movements of his chest. He looked as if he was struggling to catch some air.

Now by his side, Rusl reached his half-bandaged shoulder with one hand, hoping now that contact would make him react somehow. It did; as soon as he touched his shoulder, his legs crumbled and his balanced failed him. Rusl got him just before he could fall down into the water. He grabbed him by his waist and straightening him, urging him to stand up again.

"I got you Link. I got you." Rusl said to him.

While holding him, he noted how weak and tired he was. His gaze was still glassy and empty, and his old wounds and bruises stood out from his pale skin. If the memory of Link curled up in pain in the prison cell gave him a heartache, seeing him in such state broke his heart completely. The impact of his ordeal finally struck his mind like any physical blow.

Still in his grip, Link turned his head to see the man who was holding him up. His eyes met his mentor's, but it took a long blink to finally focus properly. He stared at him, breathing heavily. Rusl just let Link's expressionless eyes to survey his face, hoping he could recognize him just in case he hadn't done it before. Some seconds later, Link moved his right arm and wrapped it around Rusl's waist. He felt his grip tighten when he tried to support his balance against the older man's frame. Rusl glanced his dripping face and let out a short sigh of relief; Link recognized him.

Rusl looked up to the sky and noticed that the rain had lowered its intensity, and the air was starting to feel cold. He wrapped his left arm around Link's left shoulder, careful not lay his hand close to his healing wound.

"I feel weird," Link suddenly said in a low tone, but to no one in particular. That took Rusl for surprise since he hadn't heard him say any comprehensible set of words ever since the last time he saw him, and that was right before leaving Ordon Village some days ago.

"Come on, let's got someplace else. Don't want to catch a cold, do you?" Rusl said as he encouraged him to walk out of the spring.

Keeping his hold on the younger man, he took one step first and waited Link to imitate him. At first he hesitated, and it reminded Rusl when little Colin was learning to walk on his own; fearful to move his legs and afraid of falling down while making the attempt. That was a happy little memory of his son when he was barely two years old, but this time was different. The reality that Link could not even walk because of his shock was more grief added to his already touched heart.

After the short hesitation, Link was able to drag his feet through the water, then another step. With the slow pace, they got out of the pond. Rusl looked back at the spot where he left Uli, Renado and Luda. They were there all the time, so he was sure they've seen everything of the pitiful situation. They looked back at Rusl. Uli appeared to be a little serious, but it disappeared as she nodded to him and a small smile was drawn in her face. He could understand his wife so well; that was a clear sign that she and the others were fine and that was obvious that Link needed him more than her at the moment. He was grateful for that.

He glanced at his friends as he walked past through them.

"Auru-"

"Don't worry my friend, go aid him. We will take care of everything." Auru told him as both walked away from him.

"Yes, Rusl. We will clean up the mess." Shad said.

Auru then turned to his other friends. "I'll go talk to Darbus."

"Go ahead. We will help the other Gorons here." Shad said to him. Then Auru turned to meet Darbus in the other of the village, who was aiding another Goron in the ground. He sighed as he inspected the sea of rocks that covered most of the ground. "Well, we have a lot of work to do here. The faster we work, the sooner we can catch some sleep."

"Yes, a nap would suit me just fine." Ashei fantasized with the thought; leaning in her cozy bed dressed up in lighter clothes and giving up herself into a relaxing sleep… After such a rough night battling ugly monsters and witnessing magical orbs falling from the sky, it was the least she – they all - deserved.

She was surveying the place when she caught a glance of Link and Rusl in the distance. Rusl was taking Link to the Elde Inn. Since the sanctuary was destroyed, the inn was the most secured place at the moment in addition that it was left almost intact from the attack.

As she watched them, she thought about the irony of the situation and how the tables switched sides in such an abrupt and violent way. A few years ago Link battled heroically against the menaced that threatened Hyrule's peace, namely Ganondorf. He never made the slightest bluff about how the Goddesses favored him along his adventure. He never complained, but accepted all with conviction and humility. The whole group considered fighting along Link a privilege, accomplishing tasks they could never repaid. She let herself smile a little. As soon as they knew about Link's abduction, they didn't hesitate in offering all they had to bring him back. Now they were even, almost at least.

"Ashei! Do you mind helping me here?" Shad shouted from somewhere, and Ashei snap out of her thoughts.

"I'm coming," she said to him. She looked at the spring and then she remembered that Link dropped something in the water while he was there. _Yes, I think it was a sword._ He let it slipped off his hand while he was catatonic. It must be his or Rusl's sword, so he would be looking for it later.

"Eh, I will catch you in a minute." Ashei shouted as she headed to the pond. She walked through the water until she reached the middle. But as she reached the spot where Link stood, she couldn't find anything, just more dirt under the water. She bended over and futilely splashed some water away with a hand, no sign of a sword there or anywhere near the place. She frowned, nobody had gotten in the spring and it couldn't just disappeared into thin air – well, water in that case. She seriously questioned her memory.

"Could have sworn it was here…" she muttered softly.

Blaming the hallucination to her tired eyes and mind, she turned and proceeded to join Shad.

* * *

The way had been slow but with firm steps as Rusl half carried Link to Elde Inn. He was careful not to lead him into the bigger rocks that stood on the way, preventing him to stumble over them and to avoid hurting his already bruised feet.

His grip has still firm on his waits as well as Link, despite of him remaining unresponsive for most of their walk. In other circumstances, that was Link's nature and personality; silent and conservative. But that was different. Different place, different situation. Although Rusl didn't want to rush Link to talk, he thrived for him to react in any way. He would not care how.

On the way they encountered the bloody mess of what was that gross, apathetic, green monster that came with the horde of monsters. As much as he didn't want to expose Link to the nightmares so soon – even dead - there was no way to avoid it. And he could not just tell him to close his eyes because he was sure that with either open or closed eyes, he would see more creatures attacking him and more swords clashing. As the passed by the dead monster, he just remained as silent as his young friend was.

In the sea of rocks and twisted metal that covered the way, the sight of King Bulblin was just too fresh in his mind to be ignored. His eyes were already fixed on it since it came into his line of sight. It was dead, he killed it himself, but the fetid mass still ignited painful memories and opened up old wounds inside.

_The water purred over him…_

_Its hits opening the skin in his temple…_

_The blows with the club…_

_Every slash all over his back…_

Link didn't rip his eyes off the monster until his head could not turn over his shoulder anymore. His expression was neutral and unaltered by a thing that was no more among the living. But it felt as a magnetic field that attracted his vision even if he didn't want it to look at it. He didn't fight it though. Its body reminded him that he finally eliminated him and that was one of Ganondorf minion's to worry about.

_Ganondorf._

"Ganon…" he whispered as he let Rusl lead him to wherever they where going. "He…" He tried to talk, but his mouth was not cooperating along with his throat. But he wanted to said something, and he knew that Rusl wanted to hear it too. But he didn't know what to say. His mind only screamed of regret and a mission just half accomplished. "Sorry… I just couldn't…" He felt he was going to cry and he could not avoid it.

"Save it Link," Rusl soothed him, tightening his embrace in a gesture of comfort. "He is gone and that's what matters now." He reassured him. "You will be alright, just as everything else."

Rusl sighed in relief when they finally entered the inn. Once inside he guided Link to one of the rooms upstairs. Although he didn't complain, Link noticed that the simple task of walking up the steps was taking more of his energy and strength than he could expect. The dizziness was making his vision to spin and move around in waves, and he was losing sensitivity in his legs. Even with his mentor as support, he was afraid that he could fall down and roll over the stairs, and he would not be able to stand another _fall_, physical or emotional.

Halfway, he made a bad step which made him to stumble forward and groaned softly. Instinctively he put a hand in front of him to avoid a complete fall, but Rusl's hold on him remained tight around him and that was enough to support him.

"Whoa, easy there kid."

"Sorry," Link groaned as the dull sting in his bare toes subsided. He looked up. Only a few steps remained to reach the top. He had gone up and down those stairs in a number of occasions in the past, but didn't remember them to leave him so drained and sore.

One at the top, Rusl opened a room door with one hand (he didn't mind if it was his room or another person's) and guided Link to the nearby bed, their bodies were dripping wet because of the light rain from outside.

"Here Link. Lay down." He ordered as he carefully helped Link to sit down, but he remained sit on the edge of it. He closed his eyes while holding the edge of the bed with both hands at each side. He winced when he dragged a deep gulp of air into his sore lungs, shivering lightly.

He felt a heavy yet warm material being put around his shoulders. He fixed tightly around him with his hands, letting the alienate feeling to envelope him. The stillness in the room began to calm him down. Although he could barely feel his legs, the dizziness and the other aches in his body were decreasing in intensity. His labored breathe stabilized until they were steady and he could endure the stinging pain in his chest.

"Link, can you hear me?"

_Link, can you hear me?_

He let Rusl's voice to wander his brain for a second before half opening his eyes. He'd heard that same phrase while he was been held prisoner, and been spoken by the same person. The thought made his stomach to contract uncomfortably as the fresh memories threatened to block his mind. He tried to hold onto Rusl's familiar voice hoping to get a grip to reality once more; the reality that he was a prisoner no more, and that – at the moment - he was safe.

"Link…"

He blinked and met Rusl's gaze who was kneeled in front of him. His expression was light and not as terrified as he remembered when they met at the desert, but it still showed his fatherly worry toward him. Seeing his face made him forget at least half of his worries and pains. Link gulped saliva into his throat to moisten it.

"I… I'm okay," Link muttered. He gulped again and licked his parched lips. Rusl deserved a more reassuring tone. "I am okay." He managed to smile a little and feeling pain in his bruised and sore face.

Rusl smiled back. "Good. It is good to have you back."

Link looked at his feet, at his bandaged ankles. Contrary to his nature and personality, he wanted to say so much about so many things. But all those out-of-control trains of emotions prevented him to form the right words, not even to articulate them in his tongue.

"Eh…" he tried to speak. "Umm…" _Gods, why it is so hard to say a simple word?_

"Link, say no more. They are gone. The village is safe. We are all safe." Rusl assured him. He put a hand on his knee in hopes to bring some comfort and inner peace.

"Okay," Link sighed wearily. "I was going to say 'thank you' though." He chuckled hoarsely, but it almost sounded like a sob strangled in is throat. Then he added, "Thank you."

Rusl could not help but to also chuckle at Link's statement. At least his mind was not stuck at any of the unfortunate situations that had surely punished his body and mind so severely. That was good for him, for both of them. Having their minds away from other things than Ganondorf was always a good thing. "Don't mention it."

"Rusl, how long?"

"What?" Rusl looked at him, frowning.

"How long since…" Link's voice trailed in mid-sentence. "…since I was caught?"

At first he refused to answer, but he wanted to know, he had the right to know. He made the mental count before answering Link. "Four - five days." He said avoiding eye contact with Link. "We brought you here yesterday."

_Yesterday,_ Link thought. It felt like a whole year just passed in a matter of merely some days.

"How did know where to find me?" Link asked. He needed to know some more. His curiosity was taking over him.

Rusl frowned, but then his eyes were wide open when he seemed to remember something. He reached one of his pockets and searched inside of it. He took out a folded piece of parchment from it and handed it to Link. With his hands still shaking from the cold rain, he unfolded it, revealing the sets of lines and curved that formed a shaky but clear enough print of a building. He also noticed the sketch of a boar and a big "X" in different places in the piece of paper.

"Someone summoned the eagle and sent us this print along with a bag full of sand. The one who sent it knew exactly the place to send it as well as the receiver." Rusl explained. "Whoever it was knew where you were, and that you were in danger."

"Purlo," Link said, staring blankly at the parchment in his hands. "It must have been Purlo's doing." His voice showed no particular emotion while he revealed the stranger's identity.

"Purlo?" He questioned. He remembered Purlo too well: his green hood over his head, his wicked smirk, his big dark eyes, and his priorities in life. He was confused. "But how could-?"

"Long story," Link interrupted him. "And it is not a pretty one." He was going to explain the whole thing for sure, as much as he knew and as much as he could remember. But that was not the moment for it. Maybe at some moment later or any other day, but not right then.

He asked him no more as he understood that telling him the "story" is to remember things he clearly didn't want to. Rusl looked weariness drawn back to Link's face once more when he sighed again and closed his eyes. He decided to leave him to rest.

"Now, you must get some sleep." He stood up from his kneeling form and straighten up as much as his muscles let him. "Eh, do you want anything? Water? Something to eat?"

He was not thirsty at all, but at the mention of food, his belly rumbled softly. He hadn't eaten anything since… well, he could not remember the last time he had a meal. He was not sure if his stomach could hold anything down or if his battered body would let him eat properly. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to try.

"Umm, something to eat would be nice." Link said timidly. "But not much… maybe a snack."

"It's okay. I'll go get some." Rusl said. Then he turned and went to the inn's kitchen, leaving the door open.

As soon as Rusl's frame left the room, Link let himself to fall sideways on the bed. He let his muscles to relax against the soft mattress, noticing that his muscles had been too tense since he got into the room. He leaned on his side and sunk his head deeper into the pillow, transferring the dampness of his hair to it. He closed his eyes, too tired to think about his torments or pains or monsters. Not even about Ganondorf.

_Ow, my head…_

Curling up under his blanket, he let his body and mind to surrender into calming and healing darkness. The only thing he felt sorry about is that Rusl would find him asleep when he came back with his food.

* * *

_A/N: I know I said this A couple of chapters ago, but now it is for real: this story is coming to an end. As usual, leave your comments and let me know what you think, I really appreciate them :)_


	19. The Next Step

_Disclaimer: I still don't own the Legend of Zelda franchise and I'm making not profit by posting this fic. End of Story._

_A/N: Here is another chapter of the story. Any grammatical and/or language errors are mine and mine alone. I revised it a few times to minimize the number of errors as much as I could. But still, I'm not perfect. Anyway, on with the story..._

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 19: The Next Step**_

_Standing over the hills at the entrance of the Gerudo Mesa, Link watched the expanding dunes admiring its serenity in the middle of the night. The sky was full of brilliant stars and no flying ghouls were at sight. A crescent moon offered its brightness to the observer as it reflected the desert backgrounds, which included Arbiter's Ground beyond. A tall column of smoke rose from somewhere in the ancient prison, evidencing its partial destruction by the Gorons and Hyrule's anonymous warriors._

_He stood there as still as a statue, not wanting to disrupt the easiness of the wind and the space, just moving his eyes. The night was comfortably cool and it gave him a strange sensation of well being. He fixed his eyes toward the prison for an undetermined amount of time reflecting about the past, remembering the first time he stepped inside the cursed place. It was better remembering the first time than the last time, at least at that moment._

_Moving his eyes a little to the south, he fixed his eyes in the only other person present in the field. The person was at the entrance path that lead to Arbiter's Ground. He stood in place just like him; still and quiet, but within a mile of distance between the still shadow and the young man._

"_Ah, it is just you," Link though._

_Link recognized Ganondorf in an instant and, for the first time in a while, his gut did not jump inside him. He maintained his calm and his relaxed expression in his face. Ganondorf, on the other hand, looked anything but calm. Even in the distance, he could see that his enemy's face had a stone cold expression that could have killed the weak-hearted people. His arms were crossed around his chest as if being angry to something or someone. He did not look like he was going to say something. He was enraged, Link knew it, and he found it quite amusing._

"_I never failed. You did." Link said to himself. He did not intend Ganondorf to hear him._

_But the sorcerer seemed to have heard the statement, and his face sank into an even darker expression of anger and hate. But he did not move his body one bit; he just stared at the Hero straight to the eyes._

_Link could not hold it anymore; his mouth broke into a grin and a stifled chuckle escaped through it. Not understanding the reason of his hysteria, his grin transformed in and ear-to-ear smile. Immediately, his short chuckles turned into laughter. The laughter began to echo though the desert and into his ears, but he found it almost impossible to suppress it._

_Suddenly, his laughter slowed a little, and the echo began to fade…_

_

* * *

  
_

Link opened his eyes feeling no real transition between being asleep and waking up. He blinked a few time to adjust his sight to the light that filtered through the window curtains. He lifted his head lightly to unconsciously survey the room. He woke up in the same manner as when he fell asleep; laying on his side and gripping the wool blanket tightly over his shoulders, with the difference that most of his body was almost dry from the rain and that another blanket was covering his legs.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up slowly while taking care of the soreness of his wounds. He sat there for a moment and frowned at how groggy his body felt. He felt his extremities somewhat heavy and along with the echoing pain, the thought of sinking again in the bed looked inviting.

He slowly took another look to the room. He noticed that a clean change of clothes was neatly put on one of the night tables on the far side of the room. In the night table at the side of the bed was a tray of food. He leaned over to take a better look at it. It was two slices of bread spread with fruit preserves and a cup of milk. Then he remembered that he accepted Rusl's offering of something to eat and that he carelessly doze off waiting for it. His stomach rumbled softly as it reacted immediately to the sight. Perhaps if he finally obeyed his belly, his physical exhaustion would dissipate for a while.

Dragging himself through the bed, Link sat by the night table. He took a slice of bread and bit it with some greed. He regretted doing so all too soon as he began to chew the piece of bread. He winced as his jaw resented the eating movements. The punch that King Bulblin connected to his jaw was still roaming his face and it made the simple task of eating quite difficult. As soft as the bread was and as sweet as the preserves tasted, he just couldn't afford to continue eating when he felt pain while doing it. He chewed it two more times before forcefully swallowing down.

He put the remains of the slice back in the tray and took the cup of milk. He drank a small gulp first. The milk was lukewarm and soothed his parched throat, and the best of all: he felt no pain by doing it. He then hurried in drinking the rest of it in almost one gulp. He felt awaken right then; his mind was more alert and he felt more in control of his arms and legs.

Taking a deep breath, he stood up. Thanks to the blow he received in his temple, the dizziness was always there, but no as intense as before. Link prepared for that and did not let it compromise his balance as it did in the pond episode. With heavy pace, he headed to the other night table and proceeded to change his clothes. The wounds in his back and in his shoulder made the process slow and painful as they still ache tremendously. He didn't touch the bandages that covered them. After some struggling minutes, he managed to put on dark green pants and a white, loose shirt. Then he put on some open-toes sandal that someone provided him.

In a moment that he rubbed his bandaged head with a hand, he remembered the others: Uli, Renado, Luda, Auru… the rest of the team. That new urge to know about his friends' whereabouts gave him an extra incentive to get out of the silent room and at least walk around a little.

He pulled the door open and a flash of bright light that filtered through the open windows of the inn greeted him. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the light, he leaned over the small veranda of the second floor. There was no one in sight, but the distant sounds of steel utensils and cauldrons told him that someone was working in the kitchen below. He smiled slightly; he just wanted to see his friends and assure himself once more that everything was back as normal as before.

Link instinctively hurried down the stairs. But in the fourth step down, a small wave of vertigo assault his head. He closed his eyes for a second and instead of greeting darkness, the memories of his dream came out abruptly. The desert, the smokey and ruined prison, the starry sky, his laughter fit… and Ganondorf observing him from the distance. Angry. Upset. Enraged.

At the exact time he opened back his eyes, his foot slipped from the step when it didn't step on it correctly. His lower body slipped over along his loose foot. Not wanting to afford another fall and another lump in his body, he quickly took grip of the stair rails by his side, avoiding falling down and sliding down further down the stairs. He stayed there for a moment while gripping the rails firmly with his arms while ignoring the pain that the odd body angle caused to his healing shoulder. Once he was sure that his feet were secured on the wooden steps, he straightened himself and stood up. He was relieved that no one saw him slip.

_Will you ever get out of my head for once? _Link thought, softening his grip from the rail.

He remembered the brief dream he had. Did he really laugh at Ganondorf? But why was that? Even when – by some unnatural happenings – he left the village, there was no reason to do that. He knew that even while dreaming, Ganondorf was not the one to be underestimated, let alone to make fun of him in his presence. And he looked so angry standing in the middle of the desert. Perhaps that little slip was in some way Ganondorf's small revenge; to roll over the stairs steps and to land as injured and broken as before. But he didn't fall.

Indeed, Ganondorf failed. Again.

Link shook away his thoughts and stepped down the remaining steps, more careful this time. Once down, he headed to the kitchen. He quietly opened the door and entered shyly. He smiled when he recognized Luda, who was cutting some vegetables in a wooden counter; and Uli, who was revolving something in the cauldron by the fire. Both had their backs toward Link.

Luda caught movements in her eye corners. He turned around. "Ah, Link!" She called excited.

Uli also turned around when she heard Luda's excited call. "Oh Link! You're up." She dropped the spoon inside the cauldron and cleaned her hands off on her apron skirt. She approached him and tenderly cupped Link's face in her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I guess." Link said timidly.

"It is so good to know that. We are so happy to have you back." Uli said smiling. She took a step back and eyed him from head to toe. "I see Rusl's clothes fit you well. I was worry they would be a few sized too big for you."

"These are Rusl's clothes?" He questioned.

"Yes, they are. But he didn't complain about that. How could he?"

He sighed. "Thanks. I needed them anyway. But I - I promise I would return them just as neat as he gave them to me."

Uli couldn't help but smile. It was so much like him to be that generous. Even Luda giggled softly in the background. "Oh Link, don't even think about it. Everything is okay now."

"How about you? Is everyone okay?" Link asked.

"Yes, we are okay. We were all able to rest, at least a few hours." Uli replied.

"And the others? Renado?"

"Father is outside along with Darbus," Luda replied to Link.

"Actually, everyone is outside. They were up as soon as the sun came out." Uli said.

"Is Rusl with them?" Link asked. "I would like to talk to him."

"Link, if is about his clothes, you don't have to worry about it." She said with a stern yet soft face.

"No, is not about that." Link half smiled.

A moment of silence passed.

"It's about other… things." He finished.

She tilted her head sympathetically and understanding Link's urge to talk with her husband. Their topics were their alone.

"He's outside helping Renado and the Gorons." She said to him.

"They will be so happy when they see you," Luda said cheerfully.

Link smiled at Luda. She was still so young and radiant, yet she had been through so much because of him, because of a madman that was mad enough to attack not only him but his friends. His family. His priceless treasure.

In that moment, his face blush with embarrassment. He felt his eyes burn with tears and he had to look down to hide his feelings. None of them should have suffered the sorcerer's revenge that was intended for him from the beginning.

"Oh Luda… Uli…" His voice shook no matter how hard he tried to hide it. "I'm so sorry."

"Link," Uli whispered.

"I'm so sorry I expose you to all this craziness," he sighed. The growing knot in his throat made his voice to come out like a whisper. "This is all my fault…"

"Oh Link…" Uli's heart melted at the mention of those words. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a caring hug. He was in grief for something that was out of his hands, and her maternal side couldn't allow that to happen to her loved ones. And Link was one of them.

In return, he hugged her back. After so much physical and mental turmoil, he forgot that he needed it so much.

"Don't do this to yourself, baby." Uli soothed him in her embrace. "The Gods were good enough to take care of you and bring you back to us. You had done so much for everyone in this land that, as soon as we knew you were missing, everyone near here offered their help to find you. What happened last night was not even half of what you have endured throughout these years, but if we have to go through hard trials just to assure your safety, then so be it. We owe you that much."

Link remained quiet; in part because he listened to Uli's comforting words, and the other part because he didn't know what to reply to that. He defended Hyrule because he was chosen by the Goddesses for such an epic task. He didn't want anything in return for what he did, not even from Princess Zelda. He just wanted the calmness and peace he had before Zant – along with Ganondorf's influence – took them away from the land. It was an awkward feeling, but he could not be more grateful to his friends that they help him in his time of need.

"Now," Uli said after a pause. "If you need to see Rusl, you must go now. So when you come back, dinner will be ready." She glanced at Luda. "Luda and I are preparing it."

Feeling as mute as a minute ago, he just nodded to them. "Umm… Thanks." Then he turned and left Uli and Luda to finish their work.

* * *

When Link walked out of the inn, the sun was shining brightly high in the sky, telling him that is was close to midday. The weather outside wasn't hot, but it wasn't as comfortable as he might wanted it to be. He expected that the rain that fell last night would help refresh the place, but the heat was stronger at that time.

He walked down the dirt path to where the sanctuary was, and to where most of the movement concentrated. His mouth almost dropped open when he took a good look to the place. The rocks that last night were covering the ground almost entirely were now placed in a big pile on the side of the path. With shovels in hand, a pair of Gorons where placing them along with the growing pile. They knew how to work with rocks; after all, they lived in the high mines of Death Mountain. So they surely knew what to do with them.

_Maybe they will eat them later. They eat rocks, right?_

"Hey Link!" One of the Gorons noticed him passing by the pile. She stopped momentarily to wave his paw-hand effusively toward him. The other Goron did the same. Hesitant, Link raised his right hand and waved it back, but said nothing.

He continued waking to the almost rock-free path until he reached the sanctuary. What he saw really surprise him. The sanctuary, the same building that was destroyed by the flames some unknown monster ignited some hours ago, was being raised from the ground and reconstructed. He saw how the Gorons where suspended in improvised platforms and hammering wood panels to more wood columns. Close to them was another Goron applying plaster and cement to the newly erected walls. Down on the ground he saw Ashei and Shad with paint buckets in their hands, painting the freshly plastered wall. Smears of cream color paint were scattered on their cheeks and some on their foreheads.

"Hey," a deep voice greeted him. "It is none other than the Hero himself coming out to the sun, huh?" Darbus said as he stood by the young man side.

Link didn't seem to notice the Patriarch's presence or to have listened to him either. He just stared at the construction site in front of him, somewhat in awe.

"Ah, I see you are admiring my tribe's work." Darbus said, ignoring if the Hero was paying attention to him or not. "We are reconstructing Renado's sanctuary. It will be bigger and stronger that the first one. We were waiting for the right time to start the job. But because if was burned down, the job could not wait any longer. Beside, Renado and his daughter really deserve a better building. So, what do you thing about it?"

Link contemplated the new sanctuary. Indeed, it was bigger and from the outside it looked that the interior would be quite spacious. He looked up at the building, the Gorons were already working on the roof.

"You guys are fast." He half-said half-whispered to no one in particular. He was still amazed by the Gorons' ability to fix up almost everything.

"Ha ha ha! It is loyalty and service what run through our veins. And a little bit of muscles, too." He said cheerfully and proudly as he softly patted Link's left shoulder. Soft enough for Darbus, but rough enough to make him recoil and wince in silent protest. He hid his small ache by smirking and rubbing his wound carefully.

"Oh Link!" Ashei exclaimed when she noticed Link's presence nearby. Link then turned to her.

"Link!" Shad turned. He placed the paint bucket and the brush in the ground and ran toward him. Soon later, the figures of Auru and Rusl's came out from behind the sanctuary.

They all rounded Link with smiles in their faces, their signs of evident relieve to see that the Hero was recovering. The sight of each and everyone of his friends was so comforting and so beautiful in front, that he couldn't help but smile.

"So nice to see you on you feet again!"

"You slept like a yeti in hibernation."

"Cut it out! It was just a well deserved nap."

"Did you sleep well?"

The questions bombed his ears so fast that only the last question made sense to him. Though he wasn't sure who asked it, he decided to answer to it anyway. "Eh, I should ask you the same thing. Have you been up all this time since last night?" He asked innocently.

"No, not since last night." Renado was the one who replied. "He had some rest after the turmoil. But our minds' clocks took the best of us."

"Yeah, we were up right after dawn. Ha, old habits die hard." Auru added.

"I can see that," Link said to his bunch of friends.

"Hey people! Your meals are ready!" Uli's loud voice shouted to the workers in the field, standing in front of the inn's door.

"Ah, just in time." Ashei said.

"Yeah, I'm starving." Shad said as he tasted the food in his mind.

With the announcement done, the humans headed toward the inn. The Gorons kept working on their tasks.

"You Gorons can come inside too!" It was Luda's high pitched voice that called out. "I made Sirloin Rocks, just like the Elders taught me!"

It was enough for the Gorons to hear. Sirloin Rocks was surely a favorite among the Goron race. They immediately left their posts and shovels and headed to the inn.

Rusl was on the way to the inn when Link's calling halted him. "Rusl?"

He turned to him. He hadn't moved from where he was earlier. "Yes Link?"

Link hesitated before speaking. He looked like he was searching for the right words to say.

"What is Link?" Rusl insisted.

"Umm… I think she must know." Link finally said.

Rusl frowned. "Who?"

"Princess Zelda. She must know about this." He said after a short pause.

Rusl's face relaxed, understanding his pupil's worry. "And so Prince Ralis." He added.

"At least they must be warned."

"And with the warning, comes preparation."

Link nodded.

As good and hopeful Link appeared to be superficially, his mind's concern was reflected in Link's blue eyes. His eyes didn't glint with the intensity they did before Ganondorf reappeared. To take care of other was on Link's nature, and the possibility of Ganondorf coming back from his grove and attacking more people in other locations worried even him. He was not in good shape yet and it would take some time to fully recover. But if at least the rulers of the land were warned about this turn of events, they would be prepared to defend themselves until he knows the next step to do.

But then for their sake, Ganondorf backed off and retreated mysteriously. They should use what little time they had not only to advice the Princess and prepare, but also to get some rest.

Rusl put a hand in his good shoulder. "I understand your concern, Link. It will be done. I promise." He assured Link. "But now, let's join the others. You know how good Uli cooks." Rusl smiled. As if the last statement would give Link some incentive to move.

"I – I don't know. My jaw still a bit sore…"

"Link, be at ease at least for a while. Everything will be done in due time. For now, join us."

Link understood. He surely was worried, but Rusl was right. He could not let Ganondorf's memory to ruin what little peace he could enjoy. "Okay. Let's go."

Breathing deeply, he joined Rusl on his way to Elde Inn.

"You must nourish yourself, as well as Epona down there. We must be ready for the trip tomorrow." Rusl said.

"Trip… tomorrow?" Link frowned.

"Ah, stress may turn people forgetful. Myself included." Rusl said. "Don't you remember Link? Tomorrow is the seventh day of our departure. Tomorrow, we go back Ordon."

Link's face shone. He remembered that Major Bo always gave them one week to deliver their goods to Hyrule Market and Kakariko. And it was the first time it took both of them the entire weak to do so. The thought of returning to his house almost made his jump of joy.

"That's right Link. We are going home. I am sure the Goddesses will protect you on our way, just like they did before."

Link sighed jubilant. They were going back to Ordon Village.

_Home._

_His home._

_I am going home._

_

* * *

  
_

No, it was not only desperating, it also irritating and frustrating. His patience was not up for these kind of things to happen to him. For the last three hours, he'd been trying to summon any visible image of the Hero's condition and whereabouts through the floating, glowing orb in front of him. The same orb and energy that allowed him to see Purlo's betrayal so easily before, it was refusing to work as smooth as the first time.

He leaned forward once more in his ruined throne room. The sand, the broken stones and debris surrounded him, and the sculpture of the Goddess of Time behind him had half of her face missing, as well as some of its stone arms. He directed his magic to the orb with his hands one more time. There was nothing to see. The only thing that formed in front of him was the sight of blurry grey clouds and a purple background which disappeared almost instantly. The effort was making him exhausted.

He let his magic go lethargic once more and threw himself in his ragged throne. Something out of his hand was avoiding him to see beyond the prison. It was like some invisible barrier was placed between him the Hero, protecting him.

Ganondorf remembered what happened last night. Too well indeed, even if he didn't want to remember it at all. He had never felt so humiliated in his all existence. Having to run away from the beings he sore to destroy when his magic refused to do his biding. Still, He refused to accept that his new found power was yet not enough to compete against the Goddesses power. He was dominated so easily by those selfish being that it was unacceptable. Even his minions succumbed to the Goddesses doings.

He groaned and almost spat in repugnancy to that memory. His golden opportunity to get rid of one of his biggest obstacles escaped from his hands like sand through his fingers. He hated to admit it, but he felt lost; his army was destroyed, his hideout was torn into pieces, and the worst of all: he had no idea what his next step would be. He was so concentrated in getting rid of Link that he forgot the small details; his friends, the allied races, the Triforce essence by their side.

He sank deeper into the throne, his fist supporting his jaw and his elbow on the arm of the throne. No matter if he was mortified or angry, he needed to work on a new plan, whether he liked it or not.

* * *

_A/N: Read and review. You readers are the best judges. Thank you :)_


	20. Soon

_Disclaimer: The Zelda Franchise is not mine. No reason to sue me at all._

_A/N: Really my friends, I've got not much to say apart of my usual lines. Any errors in this chapter are mine and mine alone. Well, on with the story..._

* * *

**_Rise_**

**_Chapter 20: Soon_**

Dawn showed up at its usual time. The sun rays bathed the rock walls and plants with orangy shades of red and yellow. Their brightness reflected from the water, giving the impression that the entire site was filled with some kind of liquid diamonds and not with the vital liquid.

These were the morning hours that Prince Ralis enjoyed the most. Being specifically hidden-protected by high and rocky mountains, it was hard to catch a glimpse of the sun, since it showed up and went away over the big hole above Zoras' Domain in a matter of hours. That was the reason that he woke up every day at the right time not to miss such a nature wonder.

Prince Ralis hunched over the pond near the Mother and Child Rock. That was a good spot; from there he could see the Zoras emerged in their respective tasks and their interaction underwater. He even had a nice view of the trail that leaded to the Snowpeak.

Playfully, he wiggled an index finger slightly over the water. The reekfish that inhabit the area approached to the surface in response to the small waves and disturbance created by the teenage Prince. They swam around the water, and Ralis giggled as a boy. Not even the years could take away the habit of playing around with the reekfish. He had been doing it since he was a little boy under her mother's care. It was the living proof that some habits die hard.

"Prince Ralis!" He looked up to see a helmeted Zora swimming toward him. When reached him he emerged his head from the water. "You have visit waiting for you in the throne room." The Zora informed.

"I'll be there in a minute." Ralis said. He got to his feet and straighten up, shaking away any soreness in his body. After that, he skillfully jump into the water and followed the Zora in front of him. Without much effort they swam through the massive waterfall and emerged in the throne room in no time.

Once outside the water and dripping wet, he saw a pair of humans standing near his throne.

"Prince Ralis," the male human said as they both bowed before him.

He smiled when he recognized the man with round lens and the girl in the dark armor. "Shad and Ashei. My friends." Ralis greeted gladly. "I am honored by your presence here."

"It is nice to see you too. Your domain is still as beautiful as ever." Ashei said.

"Thank you, Ashei." Ralis replied shyly. "Please, make yourselves comfortable while the Zoras attend you." He offered.

"I am afraid that our trip here is not one of pleasure," Shad explained to him, his voice firm and neutral. "And unfortunately we are no bearer of grateful news this time."

Ralis grin faded lightly. "What is the reason of it?"

"We are here to deliver an urgent message from The Hero himself and his friends." Ashei said as she handed Ralis a rolled-up parchment in his hands.

He stared at his hands for a moment, then unrolled it to reveal its content. He hadn't heard of the Hero since his confrontation with the Dark Man's evil ghouls. So he thought that a message from Link should be of an important matter. When he inspected the parchment, his grin faded completely and was replaced by a frown of full concern.

He shot a glance full of worry to the humans before him.

"He rightfully thought you should be warned immediately and, if possible, to be prepared to any kind of confrontation." Shad said to the visibly disturbed Zora.

Ralis felt his gut jump inside him and his fins twitched. Since he took Rutella's place in ruling the Zoras' realm, there had been not hostile situations for him to fully handle by himself. And he was grateful for it. The news really hit him hard. Once the initial scare passed, Ralis made his best in pulling himself together. He may still be a teenager, but he was also in charge of an entire race. That was the time to prove to his tribe and to him that he was worthy of his title. It was time to make his mother proud of him.

"Soldier!" Ralis called.

"Yes, Prince Ralis?" The helmeted Zora stood quickly and loyally to the Prince side.

"Reunite the army and tell them to report to me immediately," Ralis ordered authoritatively to his soldier. "I am convoking an assembly to be held on right now."

* * *

It was a quiet, breezy mid-morning in the castle's interior garden, the birds were still whistling their melodic songs and the bugs were flying and hopping around the distinct flower beds. Butterflies swirled around the petals of pink roses and yellow tulips that were carefully grown by the gardeners… and other magical, helping hands. A green butterfly posed and rested on a slender and gloved finger. The finger didn't move to avoid scaring the butterfly away. Silently, the finger moved toward big blue eyes to allow them to admire the little thing.

Princess Zelda observed the butterfly for a minute, smiling at the small beauty in her hand, then waved her hand to release it to the air. After watching it fly and disappear into the flowers, she stood up from her crouched position next to the tulips bed. Today she woke up in a very good mood, ready to work harder for Hyrule and for her people. She ate the fresh breakfast her maids prepared, and when the guards were ready to escort her to her throne, she told them that she wanted to take a small walk through the garden before heading there.

The walk was calming and relaxing. The flowers looked radiant under the sun and the grass was neatly cut and even. The garden was beautiful and astounding, and so she made a mental note to reward the gardeners next time she see them.

"Princess Zelda?" A guard approached to her and stood about one meter away from her. "There is someone who wants to see you. He claims he has an urgent message to you but will not take much time. Do you authorize me to bring him before you?"

She sighed softly. Her duties would have to wait a little longer. "Bring him here."

The guard turned around. Some minutes later, two guards escorted a man to the garden and in front of the Princess.

She smiled, the messenger was not a stranger at all. In fact, she knew him very well "Ah, Auru!"

"Princess Zelda," Auru bowed before her, and then he took her hand gently but firm between his. "It is always a pleasure to salute you, your Highness."

Zelda's smile widened and she blushed a little. "Always nice to see one of Hyrule's finest warriors. But tell me, what urgent message you need to deliver to me."

"Oh yes. That is the purpose of my visit. And as I promised, my visit is a brief one." He let Zelda's hand go, and took his to one of his pockets. He took out a rolled up piece of parchment and handed it to her. "The Chosen Hero wanted to deliver this message to you. He truly apologize for not delivering it himself, but other situations did not let him to do the task. So I humbly offered to do it for him."

"The Hero…" _Link sending me a message? Had something happened to him?_ "Is he alright?"

"Oh no, your Highness, he is fine." He said after a moment of hesitation.

_If she only knew…_

Zelda undid the ribbon that tied the parchment and unrolled. She read its contents and Auru never glanced away from her. He watched her intently, waiting for a reaction, as small as it may be. He watched her tiny grin transformed into a soft frown. She torn her attention away from the parchment and looked at Auru, troubled.

"The same message was sent to Prince Ralis of the Zoras. Link said that the faster you were alerted, more time we will all have to prepare for any confrontation." He said with a stern face.

She looked again at the message in her hands. Memories of old times – almost ancient to her now – returned to her mind. Some of them unwanted, but others of peace and prosperity: the fall of her kingdom by the hands of the evil twilight creatures, the Dark man's possession over her body and power, and her half-ruined castle consumed by the flames caused by their greed. But then, a young man appeared to saved what little was left of Hyrule's dignity. In a moment of desperation, she accepted his help and courage and together, they could halt the destructive menace that one man represented to every part of the earth that the sun rays touch.

Now Link - the Hero, Hyrule's savior, and the grown man he she saw from time to time when he visits the Castle's Market – contacted her to announced the beginning of a new battle. She looked down to the parchment again and read the short lines once more, just to be sure:

"_Ganondorf has returned. Please prepare yourselves."_

It was like his little voice was saying it in her ears. She glanced back at Auru. He hadn't moved from his spot.

"We, as well as the Goron tribe, are willing to offer our help and knowledge." Auru said. "And so is the Hero."

She believed him. Link's fellow friends were always willing to help in times of need. And this time was not an exception. She looked at the guards that stood firmly in front of the castle's entrance door, always loyal and courageous. In that moment, she offered a silent prayer to the Goddesses above. She was Nayru's power vessel, and she was willing to accept any of Their challenges.

Princess Zelda let her system to shudder freely, for that was the last time she would let her body to succumb into fear and chaos. Her _real_ duties begin right now.

* * *

"Now baby, try walking toward me. Slowly and carefully, there are no hurries."

Ilia's voice encouraged Rusl's and Uli's girl to make some steps by herself. She had grown up a lot, but her steps were still a little clumsy. And now that she was babysitting her, it was the perfect time to help her smooth her steps.

Ilia crouched in front of her with her arms extended near the river's creek, keeping some distance between the two. The baby girl stood up from the ground and staggered while standing up. She looked at her nanny intently.

"Alright now, come to me."

As if she understood her clearly, the toddler began her pace. With each step, her tiny legs seemed to crumble under her light weight. Little by little, she succeeded in reaching half the way.

"Oh good job! Just a little bit further!" Ilia kept encouraging.

On her last steps, her legs couldn't afford her wait anymore and the toddler was falling forward. Luckily, Ilia catched her in time before she made the complete fall and took her on her arms.

"Great! You did it a lot better today." She said cheerfully to the baby in her arms. In response, the baby toddler giggled and clasped her hands happily.

"Ilia, you should come in. The sun is setting." Major Bo said to his daughter. Then he directed to the bunch of children playing around the village. "You should return to your homes too, kids."

"I hoped I could catch them when they arrive." Ilia sighed.

"Yeah, they had taken a lot of time to go to the castle and come back. What is taking them so long?" Colin said with his high pitched voice. "I am getting impatient!"

"Do you miss your mommy, Colin?" Beth mocked.

"Don't worry children. I always give them a week to deliver the harvest to their destinies. Surely there must have been some sidetrack on the way. Bad weather, problems with the cartwheels, could even be the horses…" Mayor Bo explained to the children.

Colin didn't seem very convinced by the Mayor. "I know Mr. Mayor. But the evening is already in. What of they decide to stay another week in Kakariko Village?" He asked worried.

Ilia took a look over the boy's head, and smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure about it, Colin."

Colin looked Ilia as she looked back over his head. Curiously, he turned around, and he happily gasped when he spotted the cartwheel coming though the village entrance. Rusl and Uli were sitting in it, and the man had the horse's reins in his hands. They were smiling.

"Hey!" Rusl waved a hand toward them in the air.

"Yes! They're back! They're back!" Colin shouted excitingly as he ran toward his parents. Mayor Bo, as well as Ilia and the other children, followed.

Rusl stopped the cartwheel in front of Fado's house. He came down of it, then helped Uli doing so. Immediately, Colin hugged them both with a single embrace.

"Oh how's my big boy, huh?" Rusl greeted him while stroking his son's hair.

"He had never behaved better, Rusl." Ilia said to him. "And this one here is such a good girl." She said while handing the toddler to her mother.

"I hope she did, for her sake." Uli said to both Ilia and her baby daughter.

"Welcome back, my friends!" Mayor Bo finally greeted them. "How was the trip?"

Rusl and Uli exchanged a quick look. Rusl took a quick breath before replying to him. "It was longer than I expected as first. You see, it took us the whole week…"

"Ah ha ha ha! Don't apologize, my friends. There will be plenty of talk later."

Rusl silently thanked him for not urging an explanation to their tardiness.

"Where is Link?" Colin asked when he noted Link was not with them. "Did he stay at Kakariko?"

"No son, he is at his house." Uli answer him. "He said he was little tired and decided to rest. By the way he wanted to be excused for not reporting to you after arriving."

Uli was quite surprised by how smooth and calm her excuse got out of his mouth. She was not lying, in fact she was telling the truth. But not telling the reason behind the truth is what it hurt her the most.

"I'll go see him!" Colin was going to make his way to Link's house until a hand grabbed his forearm and stopped him.

"No Colin, you are not going there right now." Ilia said to the boy. "Didn't you hear your mother? If he said he was tired, he may be sleeping by now. You can go tomorrow morning."

"She is right, son. Tomorrow will be another day, and I am sure Link would be willing to receive you." Rusl added to Ilia's words.

He was not sure why see said that; he doubted so much that Link could receive any visits now or in the days to follow. But He also had no doubt that Link was like a box full of surprises, so Rusl relied in that fact to be optimistic and lighten his own mood.

"Besides, don't you want to see what I brought to you kids?" Rusl said more cheerfully.

The children gasped in unison. "You brought us souvenirs?!"

"Just like you asked us for." Rusl proceeded to retrieve a box from the cartwheel. "Come on, follow me!"

"Yay!"

And so, the group of villagers followed Rusl to his house. They were back.

* * *

Link woke up when some light rays filtered through his window and shined over his eyes. He did not want to get up at the moment, so he curled up tighter under his blankets and attempted to doze off for a little longer. But the birds and other animal noises outside his tree house prevent him to continue sleeping.

When they arrived at his house, he was exhausted. Due to the long and tedious week he had, his limbs felt like dead weight to the rest of his body and his eyes closed almost involuntarily. In the middle of the road back to Ordon Village – and escorted by a small group of Gorons – he felt like he was going to doze off and fall down while riding with Epona. Rusl noticed his weariness and ask him a number of times if he was feeling alright or if he wanted to stop and rest a little. Offers that he respectfully declined assuring him that he was okay; the only thing he wanted then was to go home and drown in his bed. The second he hit his bed he was in his dream world. He didn't even bothered to chance to his pajamas. Ironically, he didn't remember having any dreams at all, something he was really grateful of. In addition to it, he didn't want the others to see him all bandaged up and hurting. It would have raised panic even to the little kids.

Link decided that he would never win a battle against his nature hourglass, so he swung his legs over his bed edge and sat up. As on habit, he yawned heavily and stretched out his body. Immediately, he noted that something was amiss. In the middle of his stretching, he remembered his wounds; the cuts and blows that even last night were aching like in the first day. But what he really noticed was that he felt nothing; no pain, no stinging discomfort, no dizziness. Nothing. The whole stretching thing would have surely ignited some pain once again, but it didn't happen. He touched his left shoulder, where his wound was supposed to be. But again, he felt no pain by rubbing his fingers over the bandage. He took a hand to his bandaged head. No pain neither. He was getting confused.

He quickly stood up from his bed and hurried to the nearby mirror. His confusion grew when he didn't felt any tingle of weariness or dizziness in his head or any body part. He just felt like in any day.

_Now this is weird…_

With both hands, Link looked in the mirror and retired the bandage from his head. What he saw added amazement to his confusion. The stitched cut in his forehead was gone and no sign of any contusion was to be seen.

"What…" He touched his head again to assure that nothing was there. He didn't understand one bit of what happened to him. It was the morning before leaving Kakariko that Renado helped him cleaned his wounds and changed the bandages, and he remembered how inflamed they were and how bad they still hurt. And seeing that there were no trace of any of them, instead of calming him, it alarmed him.

He quickly took of his shirt and began to peel off the bandages that covered most of his upper body.

"No way," he exhaled in astonishment to his image in the mirror. He saw a perfectly toned and scarless chest and torso with not a single bruise or broken skin. He ran his eyes to his shoulder to find the skin impeccably white. As if he could not believe his eyes yet, he kept poking his targeted parts to convince himself. He turned around to take a look to his back; he thought that the worst wounds would still be there. But as well as in the rest of his body, there were no marks to be seen.

He gave up. He stood in front of the mirror and looked at his body once more. It was just him again, the same farm boy that left the village so many times and returned complete and unharmed, with no evidence in his body of his latest nightmare and torments. By some overnight miracle he was physically healed. But not entirely, he knew it. Perhaps healing the emotional scars would take longer for the Goddesses to make them vanish.

"Link!"

Someone shouted his name from outside, but it took Link a little time to register the call.

"Good morning Link!"

_That's probably Colin. _Link recognized his voice. "Eh - I'm coming!" Link shouted back.

He quickly grabbed the discarded shirt and put it back over his torso. He then noticed that his wrists and ankles were still bandaged. Knowing that those would worry him and anyone who might see them, he hurried to remove them. When one of them refused to peel off, he was forced to use his teeth to fully remove them. He took a look to them. No cuts or bruises. Now it did not surprise him much. A minute or so passed, and after his wrists were free of every bandage, he proceeded to retrieve the ones covering his ankles.

"Link, are you awake?" Colin called again.

"Yes Colin! Just give me a minute…" Gods, he hated to make people wait for him. He hurried a bit more. He almost stumbled forward when his foot was caught by a loose bandage, but he managed to keep his balance. Once he saw that his feet were as clean as the rest of his body, he went to received Colin.

"Oh, hello Colin, how you been?" Link greeted him almost out of breath after descending his house's ladder.

"Good morning Link. How are you feeling? Father told me last night that you were tired. Did you sleep well?" Colin asked sheepishly but smiling from ear to ear.

"Yes, Colin. I slept well. I worked a lot at the Market." Link half lied to him.

"That's good Link because-" He interrupted his own speech when he fully glanced Link. "Are you using Father's clothes?"

Link looked down at his slightly loose shirt and pants. He was right, he was still using Rusl's clothes since the day before. He looked at Colin. He was innocently waiting for and explanation. Now, for being such a smart and good observer boy, he was forced to lie to him again.

"Um… Well, when I arrived to the Market, I noticed that I did not pack enough cloth changes for a week. So when I arrived to Kakariko, I asked your father to lend me some changes. That is why I am using them." Link explained to Colin.

He wasn't too proud of his answer. It didn't even convince him, but at least Colin seemed to be happy with his answer. He would do everything to keep him away from any worry, but at that moment, a lie seemed to be the best way to do it.

"Did you come alone here?" Link tried to change the subject.

"No, he was supposed to be with me." Ilia said while waking to them from the village.

"Hi Ilia." Link did not hesitate in greeting her. She was carrying a wooden bucket in one hand. Both she and Colin were fine. Gods, he felt so happy to see them both so good and alienated from what may come in the near future.

"Hi Link. Feeling better? Rusl and Uli said the trip worn you out." Ilia said.

Link sighed. He would have to thank them for covering up his condition. "Yes, I feel better. I just needed a good night sleep. Right now I am ready to go back to the ranch."

"Precisely, I have a message from Fado. He said that since you needed some rest, it would be a good idea for you to take the day off." She said to him. "You can go back to the ranch the day after tomorrow. Come on Link, you know you need some rest."

Link nodded. "Yes, he is right. I need to ease my mind a little. I'll thank him when I go back. So, are you going to the spring?"

"Yes, I'm going to grab some fresh water from the spring to make lunch today. We are having soup. So, if you want some, feel free to come home by midday." She winked at him, and he couldn't help but to smile a little. "And, I also wanted to give you this."

She searched inside her bucket and took out a cardbox with a red ribbon around it. She handed it to Link.

Link looked confused. "A gift for me?"

Ilia giggled. "Yes, Link. A gift for you. I am learning some sewing from Uli, so in the meantime while her daughter was taking a nap, I practice a little. I am not sure if it will fit you well, but I think it's a start."

Link was caught wordless. He didn't even know what to do with the both he had in his hands.

"Ha ha ha! You are always so mute…"

"Eh, I don't know what to say, Ilia…" He finally managed to say. "Thanks."

Ilia just kept smiling. His friend deserved that and much more. A worthy present for him would be priceless, but for now, that would do.

"Now Ilia, let's go to the pond! I want to play in the water!" Colin shook both out of their thoughts with his shouting. When they both turned, the boy had already disappeared into the path.

"Well, he is right. I better get going. See you later Link."

"Bye."

With a final wave of her hand she headed to the spring.

"Ilia?" Link called shyly.

She turned again. "Yes Link?"

He hesitated for no reason. He was afraid to move. _Afraid?_ He was never afraid when battling monsters and ghouls, but he was afraid to move toward his best friend? That didn't make any sense. Besides, he needed it so much.

Without saying any word, Link approached to her and embraced her into a hug. He shivered; the only thing that really scared him to death back in the prison was not seeing his friends again. The only family he'd ever known. But now having them so close gave him another reason to go on with life. And another reason to fully embrace his destiny.

Ilia froze in place. She was caught so off guard that she didn't know what to do at first. He may have his reasons that somehow where unknown to her. They may discuss them later, but now, all she could do was to return the hug to her friend. She held him tightly.

"Why?" Ilia asked to no one, but fully confused.

Link broke his embrace and looked into her eyes. He felt relax, almost at peace. It was just what he needed, what he longed for.

"It is good to be home." Link simply stated.

Ilia smiled back. She tried his best to hide her confusion, but Link didn't seem to notice it.

"Ilia, are you coming?!" Colin's voice echoed in the distance.

She blinked a few times, as if fighting some tears to come out. "I gotta go." She said. "You know where to find me."

Link nodded. After Ilia was gone, he walked to where Epona stood while staring blankly at the gift in his hands. She was always so fond into presents and details, and this one would probably be no exception to the others. He almost jumped when Epona robed her nose softly on Link's cheek. He looked up to see the bright, black eyes of his beloved horse, a survivor of Ganondorf's madness along with him. Epona snuffed softly, talking to her master. He understood her so well. He smiled at her and stroked her horsehair which seemed to make her to neigh happily.

Feeling a rush of different emotions running through his mind, he climbed the ladder and entered his house. He needed to clear his mind as much as possible before making any decisions.

* * *

_A/N: Here is the latest chapter, uploaded sooner than I expected. Don't forget to review if you get a chance. Reviews and criticism make me happy and are humbly accepted.  
_

_Next update will be the last chapter._


	21. The Hero Rises

_Disclaimer: I don't own any thing related to The Legend of Zelda franchise._

_A/N: I finally did it. The last chapter is right ahead. Enjoy!_

* * *

_**Rise**_

_**Chapter 21: **__**The Hero Rises**_

Link remained still in his bed for and undetermined amount of time, staring at the ceiling. He kicked off his sandals to the floor and Ilia's unopened gift was placed in the night table beside the bed. The sun was setting in and the temperature was beginning to drop down. The light emanating from the fireplace flames was the only thing that kept the house from being completely dark.

Two days had passed since he arrived to Ordon Village, two days without anything out of the ordinary. As requested by Fado, he took the day after arriving off, and he took the day to visit the others at the village. Everyone greeted him excited and he was more than happy to see them again.

He used the time to catch up with the village's happenings; Pergie's cat finally catching fish from the creek by its own, Talo's new head lump from his latest fall while playing, the mayor's plans for building some new houses and remodeling the ranch's stable for the goats, among other things. He also had the opportunity to share some time with the villagers by an outdoor fireplace they settled at night. The next day he went with Epona to the ranch to do their everyday job. Now he was laying on his bed, resting his body from the ranch's hard work and not because some hideous monsters tortured him and almost killed him.

Everything was good, just as it had always been, just as it was supposed to be.

It was clear to him that neither Rusl nor Uli mentioned nothing about his abduction or the attacks they suffered in the days they were absent from the village. He didn't request them to keep the topic in silence, but he knew that it would come out some day. Link was not sure yet, but that day was coming closer. And when they received the news that Ganondorf was on the loose once again, he would be gone.

Finally, he sat up and took the gift that he left unopened for those two days. He stared at it long enough to memorize every wrinkle in the box and to admire the red ribbon on top of it. Even in its simplicity, it looked like a present for a rich man or even for the king of a far away utopian kingdom. He shook it lightly as if trying to guess what was inside. He knew it was a cloth of something like that, since Ilia told him it was something about sewing. Still, the shaking tactic didn't work for him at all.

Cutting through the suspense, he retrieved the ribbon from the box and opened it. He frowned at first, but later he smiled radiantly. He grabbed it to take a better look at it. It was a tunic, smooth and unwrinkled. Its fabric was rough yet flexible to the movements, and the color was brilliant shade of red, like the color of strawberries. Or like rubies. He was about to tossed away the box when he noticed another item inside. He almost laughed out loud when he found out that the other piece of fabric left inside the box was actually a cap.

A tunic and a cap. Just like the attire he used years ago, with the slight difference that the old one was green, and that he lost part of it when he was held captive.

Brand new tunic. Brand new day to come.

And a brand new quest to embrace.

He put the attire on the bed, and stared at his back hand crest. It glowed dimly in the usual color trio. The Goddesses were wise and smart; They needed to remind him that their courageous Hero would not fight alone anymore, but deep inside him, he was too distracted and afraid to remember that.

In some way, Link knew that even when Ganondorf failed in killing him, he succeeded in showing him that he could raise more destruction and sorrow if he is ever gain Hyrule's control. The terror and pain that his minions inflicted to him by Ganondorf's orders were signs of the creatures' intact loyalty to the Dark Man. And Purlo's assassination was another reminder of what he was capable to do to his traitors. He couldn't imagine what he could do to an entire race.

Link loved the people he was raised with and the land he worked on, and he could not let this aberration of a man or any of his brainwashed minions to harm what he loves the most, let alone touch them. Now, more that ever, he would do anything to protect them.

Anything, even battling Ganondorf again.

The Triforce crest continued to glow in his hand. His mind brought back images his extended family; Rusl's family, Ilia and her father, Fado and the goats, the children... He thought about the others in the distant villages; Renado and his daughter, Barnes and his shop, the Goron tribe of Death Mountain, Prince Ralis and the Zora tribe, the numerous community living in the castle, and Princess Zelda.

Zelda. The Princess of Hyrule. His most powerful ally.

The Goddesses were more that right. He would never be alone. Never again. But still, some things can't wait. Evil does not wait. It was time to make a decision.

Link yawned tiredly. He sunk into his bed and his blankets and cleared his mind. He must be prepared in both mind and body for the new mission that was coming for him. It was inevitable that he must leave his home and friends again. But this time was for a reason, a reason that will assure everyone their safety and their peace.

* * *

Rusl opened the door of his house and greeted the dawn's light breeze by stretching and yawning at the top of his lungs. The village was still quite since everybody were clearly sleeping. He woke up some hours before his habitual wake up time, but he was in a very good mood. He felt so fine that he even planned to make breakfast and surprise both Uli and Colin by serving them their food in their beds.

He closed the door behind him and walked to his home porch. He frowned a little when he spotted a sealed envelope in one of the steps. He picked it up and examined it. The envelope was blank; nothing was written and had no name on it. But since he found it meticulously placed in front of his house, Rusl supposed the letter was directed to him or any member of his family. He just could not understand the reason for the anonymity.

He cautiously opened the envelope and retrieved the folded piece of paper from it. He unfolded the letter and read it. He read it only one time, but it was enough for him. In his gut, he was waiting for this day to come, but he didn't make himself anxious or dreaded for the wait. It was something that was out of his hands. He promised to himself that when the definitive sign finally come, he would accept it.

With the letter in his hand, he walked toward Link's house. When he arrived, the house and surroundings were silent and still. He felt so tempted to call Link out until he stopped at the empty spot and the tree house side. Epona was not there. He stood there, his face fixed and unemotional; it was no time to feel sorry or ecstatic. He came over Link's house for the answer to a question that was already given in the letter in his hands. He suddenly felt guilty for being so stubborn and not trusting his pupil in such defining moments. A second later, his heart dismissed the guilt and replaced it with pride.

He read the letter for the last time.

_The time has come. I must leave. The Gorons will arrive shortly to guard the village. Please tell Mayor Bo about everything._

_We will meet again, eventually._

A soft rumbling around the place made Rusl to turn his head to the forest trail. The rumpling increased rapidly, it sounded like a stampede in Rusl's ears.

_Could it be…?_ He thought, and small shivers ran through his back. Was Ganondorf coming to the village? The possibility began to eat him alive. He could not let them destroy his home. _Gods, we are not prepared…_ He must returned to the village and warn the others to find shelter and hide from the upcoming stampede.

But his face shone when instead of Ganondorf or any vile nightmares, a flock of rolling Gorons approached to Link's house site. Slowing their speed gradually, they halted and surrounded the lonely man standing over the dawning sky. Rusl offered a smile to the massive forms circling him. One Goron took a step forward.

"A human by a tree house, with a mustache… You must be Rusl," the Goron said.

"Yes, I am," Rusl nodded in half awe.

"The Hero was right. He knew you would be here." The Goron bowed to the human. "Patriarch Darbus sent us to guard Ordon Village and wait for orders from you and your tribe's patriarch."

Rusl looked surprised.

"Until the threat in Hyrule has been contained, we will assure that your kind living here will be safe from Ganondorf's minions" The Gorons stated and crossed his arms around his chest. The rest of the Gorons imitated him. "It is time."

Rusl deep breathed when he noticed he had been holding his breathe for no reason. He was amazed by Link's intellect. He planned it all accurately. The letter on his house steps; He knew he was coming to see him to his house. And not only that, he knew the exact time Rusl would arrive at his house, and it was right when the Gorons arrived. Link put the lead, and he followed it. He neither took it personal nor felt miserably outsmarted by his pupil, the Hero. In fact, he couldn't help but to smile wider.

He let himself to smile and to be carried away by the moment. Soon, the smiles and happy moments would be put in and indefinite halt for him and for his other friends in Hyrule Castle. Not to mention to the other tribes and places around Hyrule. The coming times will surely become more agitated and dense for everyone. But he was sure that Link would make whatever is in his hands to shorten those days as much as possible but, at the same time, taking whatever time is necessary to make things right.

Straightening up a little, Rusl gathered his warrior side and spoke to the Gorons. "Well, my friends, some rough times are coming up for us. But first things first: we must meet with Mayor Bo and filled him with the news. Then we will develop our defense plan in case of any occurrences."

With that said, Rusl walked thought the Gorons and headed toward the village. Immediately, the Gorons followed him, walking in a single line. Meanwhile, he began to mentally elaborate the speech-explanation he would say when he arrived at Mayor Bo's house. It was his duty.

* * *

The first time he came through the deepest part of the forest, the place was shaken by his presence. The invisible spirits that inhabited the place reacted wildly when he approached to the sacred blade. He remembered that a sudden strong breeze almost lifted his legs from the ground to take him to another forgotten section of the woods. Of course he then was bearing a curse upon his being, but the feeling of standing in the very same site woke up old but unforgettable feelings and memories.

This time was a little different. After retrieving the Master sword from the pedestal, the wind did not knocked him off balance. Instead, the breeze came soft and crisp, caressing his face, his hair, and his red attire all along its blowing. He closed his eyes, feeling comforted by the breeze. Dry leaves that fell from the tree danced with the wind.

When Link opened his eyes again, he raised the sword he gripped firmly in his left hand. He eyed it intently, not missing a single detail. The edged looked as sharp as he remembered, perhaps sharper. He watched the blue handle, the silver blade reflecting his stern face, the magical current that crawled from the sword and throughout his arm, and to the rest of his body along with his emotions.

The Master sword in his hands. Once again in his hands.

Two dry leaves were flying through the air and down his face when Link looked at them. In a blink, he swung the sword two times horizontally, cutting air and the two thin organic matters. Before they could reach the ground, the leaves were cut in four parts. He watched them touch the ground them, then to the blade once more. He grinned at how light it felt in his hand. It glowed with the essence of the Goddesses, as it always did.

After letting himself get into the emanating thrill that the Sacred Grove offered, he turned from the sword pedestal to resume his quest to defend Hyrule from evil, more determined than he ever remembered. He just walked a couple of steps before halting. His mind asked him how the figure that stood some meters away from him got into this part of the grove. But even as he stared at the same Ganondorf in the ruined frame beneath the steps lead to the Master Sword, Link's stern face did not falter by his presence. He dismissed the compulsion to assure himself of it, but to his mind and spirit it was not necessary. It was Ganondorf.

And no one else.

But something was not right. He had adopted the same posture of always, even in his dreams; arms crossed around his chest, a coal black armor enveloping his frame, and the same serious, angry expression in is face that Link was involuntarily getting used to. The only difference was that he looked somehow… transparent. Like a ghost. Link could see how the dirt swirls and flying dandelions passed through his form. It _was_ him, but _not_ really him standing there. Still, Link's expression never changed.

For a minute, both men remained silent, none of them moving. The sound of the trees and occasional bird chirping were the only noises swimming through the space.

"I knew you would come here," Ganondorf broke the silence. "After all, what is a Hero without his favorite weapon?" He added mockingly.

Link did not reply. He frowned a little when he noted that Ganondorf kept his distance between the two.

_Maybe he cannot go any further… This place is sacred._

"Did you really think that this place was actually hidden from me? In fact, this place brings old memories to me, Hero." Ganondorf observed his surroundings. "In this place, I imprisoned the Hero of Time for daring to oppose me. But of course, the Goddesses favored him above, and They helped him come out and tried to vanish me. But here I am again, every single piece of me intact from Their prison and Their threats against me."

Link gripped the Master Sword involuntarily, listening to the dark man before him. Ganondorf was there for much more than a simple story telling chat. He embraced his patience and waited for him to strike first, if ever.

"You don't get enough of me, don't you, Hero?" The evil sorcerer raised his voice, his menace spitting out of his mouth along with his words.

He raised both his hands over his head and stretched his palms wide open. In an instant, clouds of black and purple mist began to swirl into his hands and in the air. Flashes of light and bolts emanated from the growing orb floating in his hands. The orb kept growing until it reached the size of a rock boulder.

Link kept his mind alert. Finally, what he was waiting for; his first strike.

"I will prevail, Hero!" Ganondorf shouted to the man dressed in red in the distance. "Don't you know I am not he same I used to be?!" Ganondorf screamed. He then threw the energy orb with all his might to the dreaded Hero, black magic flowing from the black ball.

Link's eyes glowed. It was coming with incredible speed toward him, reflecting his nightmares and tortures in the dark orb, sending his own strength and the strength of an army of DarkNuts.

His Trifoce crest glowed intensely. The Master Sword charged up. The Goddesses spoke to him. His mind raced a million miles per hour…

_My village: Epona, Rusl, Uli, Ilia…_

_The Goron tribe: Darbus, the Elders, Renado, Luda…_

_My friends: Auru, Shad, Ashei, Princess Zelda…_

For them.

_This is for you._

Not even the velocity and might of the attack could hold back his instinct of survival and conviction. As the ball approached him, Link swung the sacred blade two times. In an instant, the ball shattered at the mere touch of his sword, sending the energy chards away from him and back to its master.

The chards flied past through Ganondorf ghostly frame and crashed on a stone wall behind him, causing the collapsing of the upper part. The falling debris lifted dust and cracked the silence that otherwise reigned the Sacred Grove. Ganondorf watched as his magic attack was destroyed by Link and bounced back against him. His own source. Against him. Unforgivable.

Ganondorf looked back at Link. He was standing in the same spot, in the same posture as when he first encountered him. It felt like the Hero repelled his attack just by the power of his glance. It disturbed him. That was not the same Hero he ordered to kill in a number of occasions. He was different.

_So, you are no the same, huh?_ Link thought.

"Me either," He said soundly, loud enough just for Ganondorf to hear him.

"We will meet again, Hero." Ganondorf spat unemotionally. His image dissolved gradually until if it disappeared completely.

"Surely will, monster." Link whispered as he sheathed his sword. "Surely will."

Breathing deeply and with steady steps, he walked away from the Master Sword chamber. The glow in his hand crest diminished to a soft glint. Although this new encounter with Ganondorf surely got his adrenaline to pump up through his system, the aftermath left him feeling relieved. He did not feel tired or wounded in any way. The looked down to his hands and watched intently, then he touched his red clothes' fabric. He felt renewed and full of energy. Afraid to nothing. Afraid to no one. Not even to Ganondorf, for he was sure that his judgment day was drawing near.

The cards were already played. The right people were already contacted. It is time.

The threat is there. The quest is on. And the Hero is more than ready. It is his time to _rise_.

.:: THE END ::.

* * *

_A/N: Well people, this is it. Just like it planned from the very beginning. I just hope this chapter doesn't look too much hurried (as I feel it was). I may have left a little space for a sequel since I never concreted any "real" confrontations between my beloved Link and Ganondorf. But c'mon people, in a battle between both of them, who do you think will win, huh? :P_

_I want to thank all those courageous readers who dared to read my story through all the misspellings and other "horrors" I let slip in every chapter._

_Many thanks to those who comment on the story and added it to their favorite/alert list. Many sugar cookies for all of you._

_Special thanks to __**Seldavia** and __**yaoi-midnight-mistress**; whose comments and criticism encouraged me to keep going on and to correct and improve my amateur writing skills. Someday I'll bake a cake for both of you :)_

_Thank you for reading! Until next time…_


End file.
